The World
by Kirity-Kitty
Summary: A story that me and a friend came up with from .hack, all of them. We're going to have a lot of fun with this. Mwahahahahaha!
1. Chapter 1

By: Kirity_Kitty and Wolfy

The World

Warning: Getting killed by the bad guys in this story will result in you in a coma. That is all.

* * *

The words 'Welcome to the World' were glowing brightly on the screen. There were sounds of clicks from a computer mouse and clacks from keys. The monitor switched to a keyboard. The letters were typed slowly, 'L' 'u' 'n' 'a'. The screen flashed once and returned to the welcome screen with the addition of her name. The option 'beast' or 'human' appeared. The pointer zoomed over to beast and clicked. Choose your job came up and there was a list. She chose 'Adept Rogue'. Now she had to choose the colors. She went through the light and dark colors and every shade and blend. She discovered that she liked the vibrant red and deep black. She chose a style shortly before. Tan skin and aquamarine colored hair, ears and tail. Poofy pants and a shirt that reached down almost to her belly button. After she finished all of that she began playing 'The World'. Of course, she had to do the tutorial now. She sighed.

--

Online games had never been of any interest. Friends and other students talked about it all the time. It was sickening. Her brother managed to sell a deal, forcing her into the seat, logging into the computer. Names were a weak point. When it came to naming something, "cookie" and "cloud" just didn't cut it. Instead, "Lyall" was carefully clicked into the computer.

The terms were a foreign language. "Adept Rogue" was clicked, while every other characteristic was randomly selected. In the end, the character was a young boy decked in flaming ruby crimson and grim black. His hair randomly selected turned out to be midnight blue, silky hair tied back by a bloody ribbon.

Coincidentally, it was a representation of who she could become, except for the man part of course. "Welcome to the World". These words sounded hostile in a way. The girl in front of the computer screen had a strange feeling about the entire thing, but she could not afford to lose the deal, and so she continued forward, squinting through the green goggles. "Come on, Lyall. Let's proceed without fail." Getting through the beginning was the worst. Once again, she thought to herself, _online games are worthless_. And the Mr. Lyall began "The World".

Slice. The Goblin fell. _Yes,_ Luna thought. _I'm gonna level up soon_. Luna had finished her beginner's quest and was already training on her own. She began to dance around the field until she found an enemy. _Ha!_ _Another Goblin. This is almost too easy._ "Kyaaahaha," she laughed. Just then, lucky her, she got a short mail from her first and only friend so far who just logged in. "Area words?" It said.

"A little busy at the moment. Heavenly Forbidden Two Wings." She replied.

"Be there soon. Don't kill everything."

"We can fight the boss together...since I already did everything else." She used Gale Blade to finish the Goblin and the battle.

"That's pretty mean, Lulu." He was standing right behind her.

"You should have logged in sooner." She smiled.

"Yeah, well, you know my situation."

Luna nodded in agreement, "Yep, you got it ruff KITCAT."

KITCAT was his character's name. His younger brother made the name up for him when he was in the bathroom. "Don't call me KITCAT! You know my name." He was pouting.

"I'm sorry, Kane. What kind of a friend would I be if I made my Harvest Cleric cry?" She joked.

_Did-did she just say that I was hers,_ he thought. _Wait a sec-_"Whoa, cry? I don't cry!"

"Sure you don't." Luna began laughing as well as running. Kane was chasing her across the field toward the boss.

Finally, the two players reached the boss of the level. I was an elephant like creature with a ring in its trunk.

"Alright! Let's squash this bug!" Luna began to stalk her pray.

"Here we go again," Kane muttered.

The early hours passed. She blinked at the bright screen. Lyall stood in front of the warp point, choosing a field to level up in. At this point, the area words became a blur. It was random anyway. Really, she could care less about leveling with these easy demons.

There was no one in her party because socializing made her sick to her stomach and commonly gave her quite the migraine. It was like a disease. People in general were disgusting. "Damn it! This is stupid." But never did the mouse venture over to log off. Lyall could now defeat every enemy with two or three strikes.

The boss was up ahead. She tracked it down and came to an abrupt halt when two other players were at her attention. They didn't matter. She pushed past, defeating the field's boss in under thirty seconds. "You lose." And Lyall ran away, warping out for some other area.

_That was close_, the girl thought to herself. The alarm quickly called, reminding her that there was school to attend to. School meant nothing, exactly like money. It was one in the same.

Her character had just leveled so it was perfect to log off. She left 'The World' to lazily throw on her school uniform and stuff items into her bag. The sun hadn't come up yet. "Oh, well. At least no one knows I'm online." And without anything else, the young teenager quietly left her house and began her short journey to school.

Luna rubbed her eyes softly as she yawned. She logged out of the world just moments before. Now, however, she was leaning back, resting her head on the back of the chair. She took off her head set and stared at her clock upside down. _Crap!_ She thought. She swiftly changed out of her clothes from yesterday and replaced them with her school uniform. She bolted from her house shouting, "I'm leaving!" Shit, ten minutes to go before school started.

Even though she shouted that she was leaving, nobody would hear her. She basically lived alone. Her mom died when she entered middle school. Her father...well, he worked from dawn 'til dusk trying to give her the best life possible.

Luna was a good kid. She was somewhat popular, well-behaved and received straight A's. So, yeah, she was good. She had a lot of enemy's, too. Some of the more popular girls thought it was fun to pick on her. Luna turned around all of their plans and made them work to her advantage, but she never hurt them, except their pride.

Don't go thinking she was a freakishly well-behaved smart girl though. She was only smart on tests and assignments. Other than that, she would just goof around. She wasn't the class clown, but she was fun to hang around.

She grew up strong. She believed and repeated that she thought that everyone had their own opinion and they should be heard. She also said that she didn't care what people thought or said about her. Sometimes rumors about her were true, sometimes they weren't. That's the way she was.

She busted into the classroom breathing heavily. "Teacher! I'm so sorry I'm late." her apology was sincere with eyes that were soft and hazel colored. It was a very rare trait that not many people had where she lived. This was her first year in high school and she was already having a shaky start.

"Yes. Well, it is the first day so I'll let you off with a warning. What's your name?"

She stood in front of the class and with a smile on her face she said, "My name is Zaira Abella Cote. You can call me Zaira, or Zac if you want." Her smile grew.

"All right. Zaira, please take that seat back there. Next to, uh, what's your name?"

The girl in the back looked up at the mention of her existence. She twisted an expression of disgust, glaring at Zaira. It was a split second no one else saw and she planned to keep it that way. Her head fell soon to focus on the empty desk in front of her.

The gesture pulled her messy dark bangs forward, covering the tired glowing green eyes she hated to see. First days never fail to be boring, so closing her eyes for a bit wouldn't hurt. The girl already knew what the other students thought of her, but she preferred to stay silent especially because she was too tired and lazy to open her mouth. An ugly, unrested raspy voice would come out and maybe give someone a heart attack. It would be normal again by the time lunch rolled around.

Zaira saw the glare the girl gave her. After all, it was aimed at her. She sat down in the empty seat barely participating, partly due to the girl and partly due to her lack of sleep. After her first class ended she took a nap. It didn't last long. The teachers for all of her classes wanted to play name association games, which wasn't fare. She already knew most of the people in her class from middle school and the only person's name she even wanted to know wasn't called on even once.

To Zaira, lunch couldn't come fast enough. She wanted so badly to ask that girl why she gave her that glare. Other than come in less than a minute late she hadn't done anything wrong. As soon as the teacher walked out of the room she turned to the girl and said, quite loudly, "What's your problem?!"

The girl failed to even flinch the slightest bit. She lacked interest in Zaira to be honest. For her, talking was about as important as listening, which didn't mean much, though she was a good listener. "What problem, Miss Ra?" She said it purposely. Ra happened to be the Egyptian sun god. This clearly stated as somewhat of a compliment sounded insulting with the sarcastic overtone. No matter what the other girl said, it wouldn't mean anything for lack of knowing her name. Every student in that classroom didn't know her name, and could care less about her existence. "It must be a daydream or something. Have a nice lunch, Ra." And without so much as a breath, the mysterious, quiet girl slipped out of the room and down the hall, twisting in a path no one would be able to keep up with.

It wasn't even a minute of conversation, and yet she felt like it was an hour. Socializing took all her strength sometimes. She managed to avoid it until now. Damn, that Zaira would pay for causing her trouble. She already knew talking and socializing would soon become a daily business, especially with Zaira...and "The World".

She stopped, putting her back to a wall to catch her breath. Lunch meant nothing anyway. She could eat at home or something. Hiding was of more importance. "Damn it!" Her fist connected with the wall, and her knees weakened, causing her to fall to the floor. It would be useless to stand, so she sat there, head hanging down, and both hands in fists against the cold, solid floor.

Zaira stared at the door where her new friend or enemy left. She wasn't sure which she was yet. Seriously, if I don't figure out what her name is...I'm gonna go all out obsessive and probably find out something I shouldn't, she thought...this is bad. Zaira never was one to forgive and forget so easily, except in the case of her friend Kane. He was her best friend and the only exception. Not even her dad had that privilege.

Kane walked in the door and snapped her back to reality. He sat in the desk that she was still leaning towards.

"Bitch," she muttered.

"What did I do?" Kane said innocently.

"What are you talking about?"

"You just called me a bitch. What was it for?"

"Oh! Did I say that out loud? I didn't mean you. I meant that girl who just walked out of the room. I think she hates me...but I have no clue why."

"You think too much. What makes you think that she hates you?"

"She gave me a death stare."

"Jeez, Zai. What did you do?"

Zaira now gave Kane a death glare.

"Ya know, I have to get back to class now. Its P.E. next so I have to change." With this said he stumbled out of the room.

Zaira sat in front of her own desk with a scowl on her face. This scowl surrounded her in an unapproachable air. She sat quietly without eating her, which she forgot since she was so late to school. For the rest of the day she thought about this girl, which in a funny twist of fate kept her from paying attention when her name was called on by one of the teachers. When she asked her classmates what the girls name was they just said they didn't know. _Damn it_, she thought.

The girl had washed up, fixing herself to look like nothing happened. After all, appearance was everything and if she came into the main hallway looking like trash, she would be questioned. "She wants to know my name, I'll give her a name." Strength started building, fueling her ability to think properly and walk in a "don't mess with me" manner.

She pulled out a small sheet of paper decorated with a small red and black rose design. It was about the size of your average pocket notepad. Writing with black gel ink, the girl printed a short note consisting of a time place, and a name. She might be called a trickster later if anyone found out she was setting this up. Aiko happened to be an alias of course. Giving away her real name would allow for blame.

She quietly slipped the paper into the girl's backpack, leaving it sticking out a bit so it could be seen. She ran away before anyone saw her. Hope she falls for it. The place was said to be an area by her house. The quiet girls were also sometimes the sour, naughty girls who no one would dare to mess with. Aiko would be idly standing by, watching Zaira wait and wait in frustration for something that was never coming.

Zaira was on her way home when she saw the girl. I could tail her and find out where she lives, she thought. Oh no, I'm a stalker! No I haven't stalked her so I'm not really a stalker. "I'm just gonna go home, do my homework and log onto the world." She said to herself calmly. "Haha. Do my homework, that's funny." And so it was, Zaira got home threw her backpack on the ground and logged into the world. The whole time she bitched and complained about the girl from school. Which, in a twisted sort of way, made her level up faster than ever. Eventually though she went to bed, my guess is about two o'clock in the morning.

Her plan had failed. Aiko logged in and spent the entire night leveling up. She had forgotten to eat before playing and it was a little late now. Zaira never showed up, there wasn't a single trace of her even wandering down the path that was given. "The World" didn't satisfy her anger, even when she went five levels above her own and defeated every monster single handedly!

She faintly recognized the annoying buzz of her alarm, telling her it was another day without sleep. At least she hadn't passed out yet. Aiko knew it wouldn't be too long before that happened. And it was off to school before too long, but on the way, she waited in the area she stated in the letter. The girl stood, straining to hear the slightest noise of footsteps. This was ridiculous, but she didn't move. "Stupid girl," she accidentally whispered aloud.

"What did you call me?!" Zaira had just found the letter in her backpack. "I found the letter in my bag this morning." She was blushing slightly. "Sorry, I made you wait for me and everything. Have this as my apology." Zaira tossed her a bag with a lunch in it. "If you don't eat that, then you'll be sorry." Zaira winked as she ran to class, not wanting to watch her classmate do something that would piss her off.

"Wha-" she was barely able to catch it when with her guard dropped and everything. Aiko thought it smelled delicious, but it was for lunch and not breakfast. Her feet were bouncy and her heart beat faster. She put her hands up to her cheeks-she was blushing. She wanted to catch up to Zaira, however, her body didn't want to move until she was out of sight. "Gotta get to school. I must be late by now..." With a sigh, Aiko sped up to the school, carefully handling the lunch she was given.


	2. Chapter 2

The World By: Kirity_Kitty and Wolfy

Disclaim. Wolfy and Kirity-Kitty do not own any of the .hack series whether it be manga or anime so don't yell at us for copying it. Enjoy the story!

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Zaira was sitting in the same seat as yesterday with the only empty seat in the class, Aiko's next to her. _I hope she's alright_, she thought. _She seemed a little pale when I left her this morning. Maybe I should have walked to school with her._ Normally she wouldn't worry about someone so much, but school started half an hour ago and wither Aiko liked it or not, she was now officially one of Zaira's friends.

Aiko walked in the classroom nervous, but no longer blushing. She had regained her mysterious and dark aura which people always looked forward to. The only empty desk was the one next to Zaira...again. If the Goddess of Fate did exist, she wouldn't exist for long. Stupid girl. Her glare shot across the classroom, resulting in the uncaring eyes that she was late. The teacher kept on teaching and the students had to force themselves to look away.

The girl gracefully sat down in the available seat after glaring at Zaira once more. She tossed the lunch onto the other girl's desk, expressing her extreme dislike. It was a choice she made, and no matter how much she wanted to, she would not waver on this decision. "Keep it," Aiko stated before pretending to attend to the class at hand.

Zaira picked up the lunch box and tossed it back to Aiko. "It's yours now." She said it in just high enough volume for the teacher to hear her and call on her to go up to the board and do the math problem. It was a review assignment from the year before and Zaira solved it no problem. She even decided to show her work for the people who wouldn't understand if she hadn't.

The teacher looked at her a moment and said, "Alright, but still pay attention during my lessons."

Zaira jokingly saluted the man and walked back to her seat.

Pfft...Stupid show-off, she thought. It was people like her that sometimes made society more disgusting then it really was. Aiko didn't want to keep the lunch, but obviously Zaira did a "no tag backs", well in this case "no give backs" when she wasn't watching. The lunch was officially and grudgingly hers to keep. There wasn't a rule about not eating it though. The girl just wouldn't eat it. She was used to that by now. "Dislike gauge increase," she whispered, pointing her index finger up under the desk, while the other hand carefully threw the bag onto the ground.

She better eat that lunch, Zaira thought. As lunch began she decided it would be nice to enjoy the weather so she went onto the roof to eat. She didn't bother waiting for her friend Kane. She just left.

Kane walked into the classroom and searched for Zaira. He sighed when he realized that she wasn't there. He walked over to the seat the she was sitting in yesterday. He turned to the girl sitting in the desk sitting right next to him. "Do you know where Zaira went?" He was totally polite, but you could still hear irritation in his voice.

Aiko knew he was trying to be nice to her, but it didn't come across that way. She heard the edge in his voice she didn't like, and so in return, she jerked up her head, gave him the deadliest glare she had given anyone, and stood up to proceed to a quiet eating area. She wandered everywhere and somehow ended up in shaded area of the roof. The breeze was nice and cool, and the sun wasn't burning her. She really wanted to eat this lunch. Maybe she could just leave it on the roof for someone else to pick up. That was a good idea, or drop it down and see if anyone caught it. Sharing the wealth in secret was always good karma.

Aiko took a seat in one of the shaded corners, and decided she would write a poem or something. She hated when the inspiration was on the tip of her tongue, but it didn't want to go to paper. "Damn it," she absently sighed.

"What's wrong," Zaira asked. She was sitting around the corner right where the sun hit the edge of the shade.

"Tch," she said annoyed. There was no place for her to be alone. The roof didn't label as safe anymore. "Nothing's wrong." Her hand trembled, grabbing her notebook and the bagged lunch. "I'll be going. Didn't meant to disrupt you." She dropped the lunch and left in the opposite direction of the door. She still needed to write down her inspiration somewhere, and the roof was still her best bet.

Zaira sighed. "Your mouth says nothing, but your stomach says 'Feed me BITCH!'" She picked up the lunch and threw it back at Aiko.

"I don't think so, Mrs. Cote. My stomach says nothing, but my attitude says to kick your ass...after I write something, it you ever leave me the hell alone." By now, that lunch had to be destroyed. Either way, she didn't want to eat it. "I'm used to not eating lunch; I don't have to and if I started again, I would probably get sick." Aiko sat on the edge of the roof at the other end and put pen to paper. Nothing came to mind. As a usual thinking distraction, she started to carelessly bite the end of her pen.

"Pen isn't very healthy or filling. And my lunches are always good, so don't worry about getting sick. I doubt you even had breakfast this morning." Aiko was beginning to get on her nerves, but she has Kane as a friend so it takes a lot to cross the line.

"Oh? I actually had a pen for breakfast. Shows what you know." This was useless and tiring. The bag slipped from her hands, as did the notebook and pen. Being clumsy did not happen with her. Dropping everything she held meant that she was riled up with anger, or that this socializing thing had made her weaker. "Damn," the girl said quickly picking the pen and paper back up. "Why are you so persistent?" It was really an afterthought, though it came out in a whisper.

Zaira didn't move for a moment, then stood up. She slowly approached the other girl and shrugged. "It's just how I am." She crouched down and picked up the lunch, unwrapping it slowly. "Open your mouth and eat. It's good for you," she added.

"Nothing is good for me. And I don't like being force fed." She stepped back, not able to go any further. _Too close, too close,_ Aiko panicked in her mind. "What is it?" Curiosity was natural though. She couldn't help wanting to know. Her fingers tapped around the notebook, behind her back.

"You have eyes. Look!" She brought the lunch up closer to her.

"What if I say I have really bad vision? I didn't make this. I've never seen this in my life. I am not accustomed to many foods." She was limited, but saying that would only carry this out more.

"If you had bad vision, you wouldn't sit in the back," Zaira growled.

"Fine. What if I say I don't know food, except for rice, ramen, chicken, steak and cheese?" Rice and ramen were simple to make, while the meat was stored as leftovers; no one else in her house hold knew she ate some when they weren't looking. "General foods is all I know really. So whatever _that_ is, I have no clue." Her voice lost hostility and her body lost tension. Zaira had already talked to her enough for her to be more comfortable than before. "So, what is it?" Aiko looked Zaira in the eyes for the first time. She couldn't remember the last time she looked straight at anybody.

"Well, this is strawberry-topped carrot cake and a fruit salad and apple juice." She pointed to each object as she said its name.

"Carrot cake? Can fruit even be a salad...whatever salad is..." She eyed each item as if it were going to attack her. "Uh, what should I try first?" Everything had a weird design to it. Was this even considered food? "Which one is the best?" Suspicious 'food' couldn't be good for her.

Zaira giggled a little. "That's all a matter of opinion. Personally, I like the cake best." A broad smile quickly plastered itself onto her face.

"And this one is the cake..." She pointed to the one with strawberry on top. "Alright, here goes." Eyes closed and a sour face, the girl took a small bite of the non-food item. She hesitated before chewing. The strawberry mixed with everything else. Her face released after realizing it was deliciously sweet. She took another bite and another bite until it was gone.

Next to try was fruit salad. She had at least seen something like this once when she went to the store. Watermelon and cantaloupe wasn't the best fruit, but they tasted good in the salad. She opened the apple juice and sucked it down. "That was awesome!" The girl screamed with joy.

"Thank you. How about I be your food coach from now on," she beamed.

The girl fell backwards. "F-food coach?" Her mouth twitched. That meant more socializing.

"Yep. Every day from now on II will make you food. And you will eat it," she added with growl.

"Yeah right. That was a onetime only!" She would leave if she had to.

"You like my food right?" She said slyly. "I will make you meals everyday regardless."

"I never said that I liked it." This was the beginning of something she hated. Jumping off the roof slid through her mind. "Making them is useless 'cause I won't eat them."

"That's okay. I'll just give them to Kane." She said simply, then added in an undertone, "or hide them in your backpack."

"K-Kane? You have OTHERS?!" She wanted to pace around the roof, scream out loud, and do something to make it stop. First it was one, and now there were two! Including herself made three. But some stories ended with one, so maybe in the end, it would only be her again...Aiko's breathing evened out as she thought. Something had to be done. "Fine. Bring someone else into this." Her feet landed on the edge as her knees bent. "Leave me out," and she jumped off the roof.

"Insane BITCH! Get your ass back up here!"

"Too late!" For a split second her head almost turned to look back. It wasn't worth it anyway. Zaira didn't think this would kill her, did she? The roof got farther away and the ground was suddenly, alarmingly close. _I won't die_, the girl thought. "Nankurunaisa!" She yelled out, even if no one understood what it meant, at least she could look back and say she told Zaira it would be okay. Aiko grinned at the wonderful feeling of flying, and true freedom. This kind of danger was the only thing making her feel like she was actually living. Every other time she wasn't risk-taking, Aiko felt tied down. For this moment, her soul decided to break free until the second she touched the ground.

The girl softly landed on her feet, immediately falling backwards. It hurt more than she hoped. Luckily, she had been through worse, so this was somewhat nothing to her. She attempted to push herself up, but her hands were numb. She faintly smelled the blood, from where, she wasn't sure. "What a bind this time...what trouble this is." Her legs trembled from the ignored pain. _Hopefully no one finds me like this_, Aiko thought. (A/N: And you thought she would jump off, land perfectly, and walk away unharmed...unrealistic bastards ^.^)

"Garanamoh~" was shouted from above. With a thud and a brush a body landed in some bushes nearby. Zaira layed in the bushes. They were thorn bushes planted by the administrators to keep people from ditching classes (A/N: Because they seem to work well -_-;). All of the thorns pricked her, but only a few managed to pierce her skin. For a moment she moaned in pain, but she twisted herself out of the bushes and onto the ground. Twigs and leaves were stuck in her pitch black hair. She lifted her head up to see eye-to-eye with Aiko. "I am never jumping off a roof for you ever again." She smiled slightly and slowly set her head on the ground.

The girl stared ahead, holding in the cold laughter trying to break free after all these years, if she even remembered how to laugh, really. "I never asked you to. I would never ask something so useless." It seemed the time had passed faster than she expected. Lunch was over a while ago, not that she could even muster up enough strength to walk to whatever class it was. "In fact, just never do it again." She was just putting up an act in order to hide her worries.

Zaira brought her arms up and rested her chin over them. "Do you never want to jump off the roof again, or go after you?" The question was asked playfully, but was serious to a small extent. She was already aware of the other girl's anti-socialism and knew the answer would be 'both', said quickly and easily.

"Having you come after me. I would gladly jump off a roof again." The girl spoke blankly, but all the awhile serious about the statement.

"If you say things that way, I will misunderstand or misinterpret them." Zaira gave the other girl a sad smile as she pulled leaves and twigs out of her hair and flicking them to the ground. "I might think that you mean you will only jump off a roof again if I follow you." She was completely serious about what she said, but she was the type of person you could never believe in a serious conversation. Hopefully the other girl regarded her seriousness and would reply accordingly.

Feeling returned, allowing Aiko to stand up. She set aside the pain while focusing on one goal: getting out of there ASAP! Too much talking would certainly be bad for her health. Her ragged mocha-chocolate hair annoyingly fell around her perfectly rounded face from the force of gravity while she flew forward to stand. Sharp green eyes zoomed in on a single area just beyond the school's defense. It still didn't mean freedom. She side glanced at Zaira quite unsatisfied, hinting at a bit of doubt. Everything that had happened seemed pointless, useless, but she couldn't help wondering if there was any warmth. She couldn't count out the time she wasted. Conversing and messing around with this classmate.

"I would never misunderstand that. How stupid..." She came behind Zaira and 'accidentally' kicked her back. "Squished a bug...might wanna wash that shirt soon." She refused to call it caring or helping. The girl began to walk away. Her slow pace decreased to nothing. The top half of her body turned. A gentle, 'anti-smile' appeared on her face as she suddenly spoke, "And really, I wouldn't mind, you know. You are the first anybody to 'misunderstand'! Oh, I still dislike you." By tomorrow, she would have forgotten all about what she just said and denial would be thrown into her face as always. "That can't be misunderstood." Re-energized, she started walking, slowly increasing speed, breaking into a careless run. The sun continued to beam down. Her focus fixed beyond the school grounds. The last bell rung anyway. _Damn it, damn it, damn it._ She screamed in her head picking up speed. _Just a little farther_, she thought, now recognizing the pain shocking through her body. Her feet refused to stop, even after hopping the fence.

_Such a rude child_, Zaira thought sarcastically. She pushed herself off the ground and walked back to class. She needed to grab her backpack and talk to her teachers to get the homework. Zaira was sure Aiko was gonna faint at school or on the way home one day. She was worried for her new, in denial, friend.

In the deserted classroom her backpack wasn't the only one left behind. Zaira ignored the other bag at first, but then brought it with. It was Aiko's bag and Zaira doubted she would come back for it. Zaira walked home in silence, lost in thought. She thought about her classmates, especially Aiko. Questions raged in her mind. There were the normal ones about class and what she missed today and also strange ones. Does Aiko have anyone to care for her at home? The matter didn't really concern her, but she was getting curious.

She got home and set the bags on her bed. She pulled her homework out and slammed it on her desk.

Aiko was at the last stretch of unpaved sidewalk. A few more leaps and bounds would be the house she deafly despised at every glance, every thought. Her feet came to a screeching halt when her memory recalled a certain item which should be hanging from her shoulders. It wasn't. The girl carefully eyed the back from as many humanly possible angles as she could. Still not there. And she invested all of her summer allowance into that backpack, including the contents it held. Was it too late to go back?

Maybe it would turn up in lost and found or something. Slowly, her feet stepped forward, weighted like a 500 pound steel bowling ball. "My pen, my notebooks, I don't remember where they left off...I suppose my music was in there..." Of course, thievery entered her worried mind, worsening the paranoid condition of her deniably unstable emotions. "My keys...and the water bottle..." Now she was forcing herself to reason. Retrieving something forgotten seemed like the right idea. "Fine, only because mum would be pissed." Not that her moods were never important before...they weren't actually.

This was her money we were talking about here. She would die before leaving her possessions alone. The toes rotated her easily around, facing in the school's general direction. To catch the janitors, she would have to run some more, and that would not happen. Instead, Aiko decided to take a lone seat in a shady park corner. Under the tree was cool and refreshing. It was ocean waves under the dark sunset calm.

"There's always...fuck, it's Saturday tomorrow." Well, she knew she wasn't going to be allowed in this weekend. No key meant less acceptance than before. The high security alarms would catch her "breaking in". Another fend for herself time period. Being homeless really didn't turn out to be as horrible as some thought it to be, especially if it happened multiple times. Which, to her, it had. "Better make camp then."

This area, hidden beneath the whispering willow, had already been classified as a temporary residential hotel for the homeless Aiko. She took off the burgundy red bottom up jacket shirt revealing a short, midnight blue tank and the top of her unbuttoned, pitch black low rise jeans.

Against the trunk, the girl's head rested. It was useless to close her eyes, but it happened to be the only thing she could do, hugging the shirt close for comfort. "I guess shit happens," the girl sighed blankly, not caring about the current situation. And she was ahead on the deal with her brother too. Looks like she might lose it...if her backpack did get stolen. "He might come looking," the girl added hopefully, though clearly, this was a false belief only she could believe in.

Welcome to The World, Luna flashed every time Zaira logged in. It was starting to get annoying. A message popped up. 'About time. What took you so long? -Kane'

Zaira replied, 'Homework. I missed all of my classes after lunch.' Her character appeared in Eternal City Mac Anu.

'Where were you?'

'The roof.'

'?'

'I'll explain later. What are the area words?'

'I'm at the dome in Mac Anu. Unlike you, I wait for my friend to log in to go somewhere.'

'Sorry. I can't help it. Be there soon.' "Luna" sprinted to the dome. She was at the fountain so it didn't take long.

"Hey KITCAT," she cheered playfully.

He growled into his microphone softly.

"Oh, come on, Kane. I'm just having a little fun."

He rolled his eyes.

"I'll pick an area."

"Fine."

Luna scrolled through the area words. She loved making weird things out of them. Cupid's Forbidden Treasure. That is the area she chose. It was a dungeon so at some points they split up, but they mostly stuck together.

"So you jumped off the roof after her!" Kane screamed.

"Yeah. I ended up falling in the pricker bushes," she laughed.

"That's not funny! You could have been seriously injured." He was worried about her. She was his friend and he was concerned. "That was really stupid."

"It was kinda fun," she smiled.

"Fun? Fun?! Fun! Jumping from a third story roof...is not fun. Playing at the park is fun. That reminds me. I have to watch my little brother tomorrow and you know how much I hate being alone with him."

"Do we get to play in the park?" Luna asked, sparkles in her eyes.

Kane had his character show a sweat drop and said, "Yeah." In thee background Zaira heard Kane's little brother cheering.

"It's pretty late. Shouldn't he be in bed?"

"Yeah, he should. Hey brat, go to bed!"

Zaira heard them arguing. "Sounds like you gotta go."

"Yes, meet me at my house at nine am, 'kay?"

"Okeydokey."

KITCAT logged out.

Luna logged out.

* * *

I think I'll end the chapter there. Well...yeah, the next chapter will be out soon and then we can really get into the world. I honestly didn't think it would take this long to get into The World...but it is. It's kinda annoying me...Oh well. Read and review please.


	3. Chapter 3

The World By Kirity-Kitty and Wolfy

Disclaim. We do not own any of the .hack. Please no flaming or anything like that. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 3

By nine o'clock Zaira had eaten breakfast, packed a lunch buffet/feast and arrived at Kane's house. She was welcomed by Kane's little brother , who she always called Kitkat.

"Hey Kitkat!" She smiled.

"Zai ne-chan!"

"Where's your big brother?"

"I'm right here," Kane said. He came to the door and pushed us out so he could lock it.

"Well, you're in a hurry," Zaira spat.

Just as Kane opened his mouth Kitkat pulled on Zaira's bag and said, "Zai ne-chan, what did you bring?"

"A picnic," Zaira winked.

"I know that," the boy scoffed playfully. "But what's in it?"

"I'm not gonna tell ya!" She stuck her tongue out.

Kitkat gave a sad look then started running to the park screaming, "big brother's it!"

Zaira laughed and started running. "You heard the kid," she yelled back to Kane.

Kane was dumbfounded. _How can a teenage girl in high school act like a six-year old_, he thought. And even thought that's what he thought, he joined in. "That's not fair. I'm always it!"

They got to the park quickly and Kitkat instantly jumped on the swing. He pumped his legs back and forth. Kane wasn't much of an athlete and he absolutely **hated** running. He was still a block away. Zaira was able to keep up with the six year old easily. She looked around for a big tree with lots of shade and found one. It was a really old tree that everyone called the whispering willow. She was about to drop her bag on the ground when she was something move. Zaira, being the girl that she is, looked around the tree's trunk and saw a girl. It was Aiko! Zaira didn't want to be rude and wake Aiko up, but she couldn't help herself.

"Aiko!" She screamed.

Rich brown colored hair flew up in reaction to one swift movement. Carrying the girl to her feet and placing her body in a basic fighting stance. Looking around, the girl quickly found the target. "Fu-" she didn't finish the swear, sensing a boy nearby. "Think you could be any louder?" She set her hand on the side of her head, indicating a slight headache. A shirt lay behind her, dusted with dirt and rocks from the Aiko breeze created before. _Damn, this is so fucking bad,_ she thought.

"Sorry. I was just surprised." Zaira had an apologetic look on her face, puppy dog eyes and everything. "Would you like something to drink? Sometimes drinking water gets rid of headaches." She dug through the bag she brought and pulled out some ice cold water. "Here."

Aiko pushed away the bottle, blank expression. "Tch, I don't need anything from you." She had so rudely glared before proceeding to pick up the ruined piece of clothing, choking back the poking sadness trying to break her sense of mentality and show a truer nature.

"Deal forfeited already?" The familiar, calming tome cam on the slight wind. It had come from behind. Her head turned with the breeze to hear the subtle sound once again. "Ne(1)?" An older man, looking to be in his early twenties, walked out from behind the tree trunk, smiling caringly towards the young girl he knew so well. She instantly recognized the messy, bleach blonde hair and his shinning forest green eyes.

"Ani(2)?" She was completely stuck. He'd come. He really did show up, like she hoped.

"I figured something happened." The man sighed, quickly closing the distance between him and his sister.

"Sorry. My backpack...I forgot it...and no one would have let me in without it. You know how they are with me!" She sorrowfully buried her head in his chest, feeling the tears falling unexpectedly all at once. "And it's not like this is the first time it's happened." Oh, her emotions always came crashing down with him, even though he couldn't begin to understand what she had to go through...what she was still going through.

Anthony, childly named Ani, wrapped his arms tight around her fragile figure. He too noticed she had become more emotional. This time, it was a call for his big brother instincts to brutally attack and destroy. He instantly pierced a burning hole in the space between Zaira and Kane. Naturally, he would accuse the "helpful" and "friendly" one. His eyes turned dark, almost night blue, moving the deadly glare from where it was, to Zaira, locking eyes immediately. "What the hell did you do to my sister?!" Ani quietly said, close to a whisper, his voice deeper and blood-thirsty. "Nera is usually stable with these happenings...you must've tried to change her, you brain washing bitch." Lower. No one messed with his sister, and anyone who did never lived long enough to tell the tale. I would be true to think even as a brother, that was a harsh accusation about a girl he had never seen before in his life, but humming harsh accusations seemed like all he could do to help the shattered being held in his arms.

Zaira was taken aback. This was all like out of a story or something. "Um...I just happened to be her today." She was nervous, but in a way, happy too. Aiko had at least one person to collapse with. _Wait,_ she thought. The gears in her head began to spin. "Nera is such a pretty name. Why would you sign the note from before with Aiko? Then again Aiko is a really cute name too." Zaira couldn't stop talking. "Anyway my name is Zaira." She smiled broadly. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance." She bowed slightly and pulled the dangling strands of hair out of her face. "I'm going to be her food couch at school from now on. which reminds me. I went back to class yesterday and saw your backpack just sitting there. I knew that is I just left it there the janitor would throw it in the garbage so I took it home. You can come over to my house and pick it up." She paused. Kane was right behind her.

"You're not planning on ditching me, are you?" He asked angrily.

Zaira shook her head. "No way. You're brother is too cute to ditch."

Kane glared at her.

She turned back to Nera and her brother. "Why don't you two stay for lunch? We're having a pick-a-nick." She said picnic for fun, copying Yogi Bear. "I have some more strawberry topped carrot cake. Then I can take you to my house and give you the backpack." She closed her right hand and hit her left palm with it. It was her I-have-an-idea hand motion. "I can give you the homework too."

Nera, as she was now known, stopped crying. Anthony lovingly dried her tears. "I'll go with you if you like," Anthony softly spoke.

"Zaira?!" Her eyes shot with anger. "You took my backpack?" She left her brother's arms, ready for a killing. "Not only that, but you called ME Nera! I can't allow that...and what about a food coach? What kinda crap are you spouting, lady!" her voice rose in an instant. He rarely saw her so angry and...emotional. It was a nice change, but there still seemed to be something wrong.

"Nera, calm down. She was just trying to be nice."

Nice? NICE?! No one but you is nice to me, so why should I believe this you-jump-I-jump freak?" She nearly hit him with her stone fist, bet he was so used to blocking her attacks, it came naturally. The guy, still blocking, knocked his sister out in one swift hit. She went slack in his arms.

"Um...so where is your house? Oh, and I'm Anthony by the way. I apologize for Nerazza. My little sister has a certain personality as you may already know." He laid her in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder. "She'll wake up soon," _I hope_, he added in his head. Sometimes he hit harder than he thought he did.

Zaira looked at Nerazza sadly and with wonder. "Is she treated okay at home?" She was serious for that moment, but it passed faster than it came and she became playful again. "She didn't even know what cake was," she joked lightly. "She may seem angry and abrasive on the outside, but I bet he's like jelly on the inside. Once you get to know her, I mean. Will you please stay for lu-"

Zaira was cut off by crying. A little girl across the street was standing up. Her knees were bleeding. "Uh, um...I'll be right back, 'kay?" She ran across the street. They could hear her consoling the child. "Did you fall," she asked sweetly.

The girl nodded.

"Come here." Zaira patted her lap.

The girl sat on her lap.

"First we'll clean the wounds." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small spray can. "Are you a brave girl?"

"Uh-huh." She sniffed.

She was spraying while talking. "All done," she said a second after the girl answered. "I'll just put a few band-aids on...and there. All better."

The girl stood up and ran off. "Thank you lady!"

"I'm not that old!" Zaira ran back to the park. "Kids these days make me feel so old," she complained. "Will you join us for lunch?"

"Uhhh..." Anthony stilled, dumbfounded and wide-eyed. "You talk a lot, huh?" He gave a quick look at his sister, still slack in his arms. "I would accept, but she has to get home, or something. How about we take a trip to your house or something then eat?" The man smiled cheerfully, opposite of Nerazza.

Zaira mumbled incoherently. _Dad should be at work by now, _she thought. _It might not be a good idea. He doesn't like it when people are in the house and he isn't._ "I guess we can. My dad doesn't like it when I have guests over when he is not home, but I'm sure he'll understand." She said the last part mostly for herself.

Kane's jaw dropped. "Zaira! You promised that today it was just going to be you, me and Toni (Kitkat)!"

"Come on Kane. Be more understanding," Zaira pleaded.

"Fine. Go with them, but we're going home!" Kane turned around and stomped away. "Come on Toni!"

Toni jumped off the swing, hugged Zaira good-bye and trailed after his brother.

Zaira just sighed.

"I sense a crush...or jealousy." And who wouldn't be? He was devilishly handsome, a guy who turned heads everywhere he goes, but Kane seemed that way, to Anthony at least. The college-aged man would've most definitely gone for that boy if no one else was around, especially his trouble maker sibling. "Bet a kid like that could care less about someone older," he unknowingly mumbled rather loud and clear.

His cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink, "Anyway, if he wanted the day alone with you, it could've been done. I'd hate to put a rift separating the happy family...Or I can drop her off at home and then come back and I can be formally introduced to the happy family." He kept rambling about the different ways this picnic thing would work out like it was planned to.

"Too late now, he's gone~. I can talk to him later, in The World."

He froze with a smile. "T-the World? Like...THE WORLD? Online game and what not?" His eyebrows rose.

"Yeah. What other The World is there?" Zaira had a feeling that something very interesting was about to begin.

Anthony nervously laughed. "Uh, S'pose you're right...So then...You're on The World?" Surely the man was giving something away, but not exactly. "hm...anyway, I'm gonna go drop this one off at home then come back, alright?" He didn't wait for an answer before running off in the direction towards their house.

Zaira opened her mouth to shout something at him, but closed it. He was too far away to hear her anyway. _I guess I just wait here,_ she thought. _Anthony seemed very suspicious._ She sat down inbetween the roots of the whispering willow and continued to think. _This is pretty comfy. _She thought about how Anthony reacted to her mentioning The World. _Maybe he is part of The World. Although, his sister might be the one in 'The World'. I'm not gonna rule out that possibility. I just hope she's not a PKer._

Anthony snuck into their house, dropped Nerazza onto her bed and saying good-bye. he hurried back to the park. "So where's your house?" He readied himself to follow Zaira.

"My house isn't too far away," she said with a hum. She stood up and walked to the street. Being the little angel child she was, she looked both ways than quickly ran across the street. At the intersection she turned left and then walked up a stoop. "This is it," she declared. The house was old, rotting and plants were growing all over it. If you had seen it at night, you would think that is was haunted. "It's old and small, but it has internet," she smiled. "And that's all I need." She pulled a key out of her pocket that had cat ears and a cat face on it and turned it in the door. "Tadaima(3)," she said as she usually did. A dog began to bark and then tackled the girl to the ground. It licked the girl a few times then began to growl at the stranger. "Quiet down Zen. He's here to get the backpack," she laughed. Zaira stood up. "This is Zen, my Doberman." The dog barked a hello then trotted away. "My dad got him for me when mom died so that I would never be alone. He's a good boy. Would you like some tea," she asked politely.

* * *

1- Ne is a play on words. it can be translated as 'right?'. It is also the first set of Aiko's real name.

2- Ani is basically honorable big brother, but in this case it is his nickname and is pronounce like 'Annie'.

3-Tadaima is 'I'm home' in Japanese.

That's the end of Chapter 3. Rest assured there will be much more of The World actually in it in the rest of the story. Please leave a review. Bye Bye Peoples!


	4. Chapter 4

The World By: Kirity-Kitty and Wolfy

Chapter 4

Her house was closer than Anthony thought. "Uh, no thanks. I don't really drink tea." She didn't have a mother. Anthony had a plan cooking in his head, but it wasn't time to say anything yet. "It's nice and homey. I'd love to live in a place like this. I bet that stupid sister of mine would, too." Suddenly, he began to wonder if that Kane kid had ever been here before, and wondered what his house looked like.

Zaira had a feeling that Anthony was thinking about Kane and she smiled slightly. So as to not arouse the boys suspicion she asked, "Would you like something else to drink? Or maybe a snack?"

"That depends. What kind you offering?" The man slowly grinned. He definitely had a plan.

"I have milk and water to drink and there is still quite a bit of cake."

Cake?" His eyebrow rose. "I guess I wouldn't mind having some cake and milk." This girl was extremely polite. How did Nerezza not want to talk to Zaira?"

"Sorry we don't have any coke...or any kind of soda, actually. Bad for the health, ya know?" She walked into the kitchen and poured them some milk. She took a sip of hers, handed him his and said, "You had a strange reaction when I said something about 'The World' earlier. Is that because you have an account, or you're sister does?"

He gladly took the milk, holding back the awkward feeling of answering the question. "Oh, it's just so popular, but I hadn't heard much about it lately." He couldn't say anything yet. At least he was an expert liar.

"Yeah, but does your sister have an account? If she does, then we can hang out there which I would think she would prefer since nobody would know or recognize her. It would be a lot of fun."

Zen came trotting back into the room with two backpacks. Zaira took the backpacks from him. There were no marks or slobber on them at all. "Thank you, Zen. You are so helpful." She gave him a kiss on the head and he layed at her feet. "Just give me a second to copy the assigned pages." She took out two papers from her bag. One had a list, the other was blank. She quickly copied the list and handed it to Anthony. Then she handed him Narezza's backpack. "I didn't want to open her bag and put it in because I would be too tempted to go through it." She laughed lightly.

"Go ahead, if you're that interested. I never could find her journal at home, so I'm guessing that it is in there." The blonde took the items anyway, quickly unzipping the backpack. Knowing her, Anthony predicted it would be disguised as either a normal reading book, or a school notebook. "Yep, here it is." he pulled out a red and black book, full of writing and blank pages... "Let's see when the last entry was..." The written date was three days ago.

Anthony turned the book around to face Zaira. "Zai, I think this answers your question about 'The World'...and probably a lot of others. And this isn't the only book. I believe I would be able to find entries dating back like ten years ago. You're curious, nee?" The book was now in front of the girl. "I've never had the strength to read them...If reading them gives you a pain...imagine the pain of living it." The man swung the bag over his shoulder after putting the papers in it. "Well, I should get going. I have to push Nera some more otherwise her deal with me will end. Please read it, okay?" he expressed concern, hoping she would agree.

"I can't read her diary. It goes against my morals. No matter what you say I won't read it," she screamed. She quickly stood up pushing her chair back a little. Her dog sat up and started to growl softly.

Anthony snapped in her direction, flipping open to a random page in the book and began reading aloud, while standing. "Today was useless, like any other day. Ignored once again and nearly went deaf trying to block out my mother's hate...People stared and laughed at me for no reason at all. I want to leave the house and the school and the community...Solitude is something I'd give everything for. Ever since I was born, I've been a caged bird with shackled wings, knowing not where the lock was, and hearing of no key. Not even Ani can understand. I'm not so sure if anyone can understand what I go through. What is the average amount of times per year a high schooler goes homeless anyway? Though, I do have a reputation so I am damn near perfect at keeping face...What the hell kinda phrase is that anyway?"

The man flipped to another page, not caring about the previous one. "I stayed up all night again, afraid of the things that take to haunting my dreams. Sometimes it's better not to wake up, you know? No one is there to make it go away...A simple pat on the head would even do...I just don't understand why I am unwanted. Sure I get through it fine alone, because I have to...There is no other choice...but isn't that people say 'no one should have to go through it alone?' I'm useful as a target. At least target practice is once or twice per day now. I sound so whiney. Adults don't complain. Never mind all of that. Everything is just fine.

"Today was a good day after all. I got perfect scores on all assignments, and it wasn't too hot...And Ani went against the parents' wishes to stop me, at the cost of a month's worth of pay and a deep wound across his left hip and stomach." Anthony paused after slowing his speaking. That day was still fresh in his mind as if it happened a few minutes ago. The "novel" was gently closed. "Please read it, I'll do anything. I just want her to be happier and give her a chance to be normal, even if for a minute! I've read all of the things she has written, but I'm nowhere near close enough for her to cheer up because I say so." He quickly scribbled down a number, sliding the paper over to her. "Please give me a call when you've made up your decision, Zai, okay?" His voice was soft and gentle. Showing vulnerable, pleading green eyes.

"You're sister is smart. As soon as I read that, the way I look at her will change, she'll notice." She took a short pause. Taking a moment to sit back down in her chair. "She'll also notice that the diary is gone. Also," she paused again. Zen sat his head on Zaira's leg and made soft, somewhat comforting whimpers. Zaira leaned against the table. "Do you think I should read her diary too Zen?" The slim black dog sat up perfectly straight and barked. Zaira looked slightly angry, but that was easily covered by surprise. "You're telling me to break my rules?" Another bark, exactly the same as before. "I suppose you're right. Rules are meant to be broken." She glanced at the book sullenly. "Fine."

"Oh, thank god." He remembered to take a breath. "I'll cover if she notices...and changing your view comes with the territory. She is supposed to notice that you understand better. "Anthony bent down to her level."I hate making you go against you own morals, but it'll be worth it. Nera truly is the best friend of a lifetime...once the barriers are broken. Zai, you have already broken a barrier by talking to her enough that she recognizes you and willingly talks with you. "A kind smile graced his face as he stared blankly ahead."Even I took longer to break that barrier." Anthony pet the dog in thanks. "To be far, Nera does have an account, but I don't know her user name. I'm sure she'd be one of the only fairly high level, 'I-work-alone' type character. Reality or not, her personality is apparent and easy to pick out." His legs were a little numb after standing again, but it quickly disappeared. "I'll grant you a wish as well if you'd like." He never learned. Making these deals would get him into trouble, or so the parents worry.

"Are you a Gin (1)? Gins are annoying bastard. Never make a deal with a Gin, my mom used to tell me." She was slightly mocking him. Zaira looked over him curiously. "What kind of wish? Wait..." She stood up and went to the counter, pulling a fork out of a cabinet. She scooped a piece of cake onto a plate and handed it to Anthony. "I promised cake."

"I take that as an invitation to stay." The cake was sweet and so bad for him, but it tasted so good. "Delicious! And no, I am not a Gin...I'm just a non-cheating, innocent dealer." He took another bite, green eyes brightening. "And I told you, it is anything you want. It is your wish."

"But I don't have any wishes," she said innocently.

"Then I'll keep it tucked away for when you do have one." Anthony mocked her innocent tone.

"Hmm."

"So, do you have a computers around here?" He glanced around, taking another big bite of the cake.

"Nope, I have internet, but no computer," she lied.

For a second, his eyes widened in disbelief. Then he doubted not believing that statement. It wasn't entirely impossible. Actually, it seemed quite common. "Really? I could see if I can get you a computer...at least that way you'd be able to use the internet. Our house has wifi, so the connection isn't too great, but we have computers so it evens out." He gently smiled.

Zaira laughed a little. "I wasn't serious. I'm sorry. I didn't think that you would actually believe me."

"Oh, right." He nervously scratched his temple, laughing a bit. "In that case, could I borrow a computer so I can check on something?" He was an expert hacker when it came to 'The World'. Without logging in, he could find out who was on and who wasn't, even their location in 'The World'!

"Sure. Come with me." She stood up and walked out of the kitchen. Zen trotted behind her up the skinny, steep staircase, and into a room with a bed and computer. The bed was actually just a couch that was pulled out as a bed. "It's already on," Zaira said as she pointed at it.

"Awesome. I like the set up." His fingers flew across the keyboard. Anthony made it seem like he was checking his email, but that was the format for the stats of 'The World'. "This is simple to use. Mine is a little more difficult to access." He grinned when he noticed his sister had already logged on. She woke up faster than expected.

Zaira shrugged. "You know you shouldn't hack on other people's computers," she said coolly. "If they come knockin' on my door, I'm pointin' the finger at you."

"What are you talking about? This isn't hacking. Its email," Anthony innocently smiled. Was she an expert hacker as well? His fingers continued clacking on the keyboard, sometimes in hyper speed. "Isn't this how you check your email?" he paused momentarily to sneak a quick look at Zaira. It wasn't worth lying, and he knew that, but he still had to make the effort. His head turned back to the screen. "So that Kane kid plays 'The World'?"

"No. That is how you figure out who is logged in and where they are." She moved closer to him and looked at the screen. "He's sulking right now though." She pointed to Kane's account name. "That's him. KITCAT. And he's in central Mac Anu…totally sulking by the fountain." An innocently evil smile sprouted on her face. "Maybe you should go talk to him," she hinted.

Damn, she did know expert hacking. Lying was useless after all. Anthony clicked out of the windows, quickly standing up. "I, uh, forgot about some errands I had to do. The cake was good. And it was nice making a deal with you. Make sure you read that diary soon." Within the span of ten seconds, he grabbed everything he had come for and ran out the door, heading for home.

"Have fun with Kane," she whispered even though he wouldn't hear her. "I guess I should read Nerezza's diary…" She idly twirled the book in her palms and plopped on her bed noisily. She eyed the book intensely. She opened it to the first page and closed it immediately afterward. "I can't do it," she sighed. "At least…not now. Maybe I'll log onto 'The World' and watch Kane and Anthony." She smiled. "Yeah…I think I will." Zaira stood up and walked to her computer.

'Welcome to The World Luna'

Luna appeared in the dome area of Mac Anu and ran to central. She saw Kane, but no one else was around. She decided to hide and wait.

'Lyall' logged in at Mac Anu, suddenly running off after seeing something in the distance. A looking to be about eighteen gracefully made her way to central Mac Anu. She carefully eyed the boy sulking. "Oh, you're too cute to look depressed. Is there something I could do? I'd be happy to help." She bent forward to get a better look at him.

KITCAT looked up at the girl. "Who're you," he said, obviously grumpy. Luna was watching from a nearby shop, being sure that she wasn't seen. _I hope that's Anthony,_ she thought.

"My name is Kusari. Who are you?" She grinned happily, leaning a little further away as to not make the meeting awkward.

"Kane," he said quietly.

"Kane, huh? It's cute. Say, I have something for you." Kusari pulled out a small dark ribbon and tied it around Kane's pinky finger. "I'm not sure what kind of wound you have, but I hope this helps make it better. I have a blue one, see?" She held up her pinky finger with an innocent smile.

"Thank you," Kane said. His face turned bright pink and as soon as he realized it he said, "I'm sorry. I gotta go." He logged out.

Luna ran up to the girl she watched and said, "Sorry Anthony. I didn't think he would just leave like that."

"Who's Anthony?" The girl turned away and slightly blushed. She ignored the comment. "Anyway, you seem to know that Kane guy. I don't think he liked my ribbon very much." She put on the "a-ha" face, pulling out a small black silk ribbon. "It seems you need one, too." She tied it around Luna's pinky finger. "You seem to have a wound as well." Kusari smiled sadly with the faintest hope that it made Luna feel at least a bit better.

"Thank you," Luna said, smiling cheekily. "Anthony, will you help me find your sister and force her to go on a quest with me, please?" She begged. "And don't tell me that you are not Anthony when you clearly are."

Again, she blushed. "Ahem, I am not Anthony…but I'm guessing the girl is the one who runs away. Everyone I know has seen her at least once." She pressed a couple of buttons, and smiled. "Look at that," Kusari grinned. "Obviously she was hoping you would go back…Even at her level, she returns to Heavenly Forbidden Two Wings. She most likely conquered it already." The girl quickly sent an invite to Luna. "Then we have to find Kane." And at her level, it seemed odd that she still had characters in the would she had never seen before.

"All righty then! Let's go!" She shouted after joining Kusari's party. She ran up to the dome and rushed inside to the teleport ring. "Shall we go?" She asked, turning to look at Kusari. "To Heavenly Forbidden Two Wings!"

Kusari cheerfully followed after her. It was ridiculous that they had to go to a beginner level for someone of equal level of Luna. She hated the lower level fields, but it still lit up her face. Fields were her favorites. "Okay, now we have to find her…"

"That's the easy part," Luna said while running across the field. "We just need to find some monsters."

"I would think that was the easy part," Kusari effortlessly killed one of the monsters running toward her.

Luna leaned against a nearby tree. She didn't pull out a weapon and watched Kusari fight.

Kusari defeated it in one slash. "See her anywhere?" She glanced around, searching for Lyall, while avoiding the monsters.

"Nope," Luna said after taking a quick look around. "And you are killing the bait," she added.

"Then tell the bait to stop attacking," Kusari moved in closer to Luna. If there were monsters, they wouldn't be able to attack them now. It was boring waiting, but if it got Lyall to come out, there was no arguing against it.

"Of course, this is a boss area," Luna said taking a goblin out in two swift strikes. "Going to the boss would be most effective." The monsters were gone. "Shall we go," she asked playfully.

"Sure!" Kusari stepped aside, avoiding the monsters to get to the boss. She walked over to the beast, a plan already in mind.

"Don't attack it, yet. Let's wait for your sister." Luna crouched down, ready to pounce upon the boss at any moment.

"If you want to wait." Kusari jumped aside, hoping she could deal with the wait for Lyall.

"I do, but," she looked over at the monster. "I want to kill it first."

"It'll only take a second. Would you like to kill it first?" Kusari glanced up at Luna childishly.

"I want to, but I…can't kill…the bait…"

"JUST KILL IT ALREADY THEN!" Kusari immediately covered her mouth, hoping she didn't yell too loud.

"But...its bait...I really really want to but...can't...bait..."

"I give you permission to kill the stupid bait…and if it will shut you up, I will personally kill it for you...seriously, it wouldn't take that long." Kusari sighed, readying her weapon.

"Nooooo," Luna whined. "Your sister has to come. That's the entire point!"

"Well, I never said she would show for sure," Kusari shrugged.

"Yeah, but this how she showed up last time I met her. I was about to surprise attack my prey and she just walked past me and took it out. It was really unfair!" She complained.

"I never thought of that, but what if she doesn't show up...I might be tempted to kill the thing...."

"Then do it exactly the same. Go up to the monster, and hope she will show up, like last time," Kusari rolled her eyes.

"I never thought of that, but what if she doesn't show up...I might be tempted to kill the thing...."

"Ugh, god, just do it or don't! Seriously, I will do it myself if that is what it takes..." Kusari was harsh for a "little lolita girl".

"No," Luna yelled. "The point is to have your sister come and kill the thing before us. You really don't understand my position." Luna then went off on a rant about how she couldn't kill the monster no matter how she wanted to which was all very confusing and utterly pointless. "Do you see my dilemma?"

"Alright, fine then. I really hate stubborn girls." She proceeded to move forward, deciding it was easier if she provoked Lyall to come about. "Watch and learn my dear friend," Kusari smirked, slowly making her way to the field boss. A flash of black and orange crossed her sight as she entered the battle. In less then a second, the beast was dead, and Lyall now stood in front of Kusari.

"Oh no," Lyall gasped, mostly to herself. Kusari grabbed her arm.

"Oh no you don't missy. You are in a lot of trouble this time. Someone wants to talk to you and you run away? You hide? This is not a game of solitude," Kusari lectured. "Hey!" She called over to Luna. "It's alright now, I got her," she stated expressionless. Catching had never been so easy.

"...If that is what I had to do...you should have just said something," she barked fiercely.

"GAH! I TRIED to tell you! But what was your response? 'The bait. I can't kill the bait.' You should have just did what I told you." Kusari dragged Lyall back over to where Luna stood. "Here is for you." Kusari tied a silver ribbon around Lyall's pinky finger. "From here on, do not run, do not ignore, do not go solo. You should remember the details. Otherwise, you will not get what you want."

"Can you just shut up now?" Lyall ripped off the slight piece of fabric, throwing it to the ground. "What does this little girl possibly want with me, hm?" She didn't even recognize Luna from the time before. "Say something stupid and I'm out."

Luna stared at Lyall. "I'm Zaira, from school." She smiled and immediately knew Lyall would run away, but she could track her now that she knew her screen name. "Now that you are here, we can get started. I'm going to help you with the deal you have with your brother. Don't get mad at him because he hasn't told me anything. Although he is kind of a jerk for knocking you out."

"Z-Zaira?" Her eyes widened in shock as she nervously glanced around. "Uh, I, uh, gotta go."

"Oh no you don't. Do that and the deal is done, my friend." Kusari gently pushed her closer to Luna. "Here, take her. I, unlike some people, actually have a prior obligation. See ya." Kusari warped out from the area.

A/N: Well, that will end that chapter…on to the next one.

Gin-Evil Genies that tricked humans into making wishes that basically made their lives worse


	5. Chapter 5

The World

Chapter 5

* * *

Luna hugged Lyall and didn't let go. "You are not getting away now." She laughed in a maniacal way. "Oops. Sorry, let my evil out."

"W-wha?!" Lyall struggled to escape the sudden embrace, and failed miserably. "At least tell me what you want me for...coach," she satirically responded, a sneer coming about her face.

"Uh...i don't really know," she said dumbly. "Your brother just told me to help you. I don't even know what your deal is so I'm not even sure how to do that."

Her eyes squinted, her head a bit cockeyed. "He said what exactly? What kinda help?! Oh, he is so in trouble!" She trembled slightly, desperately wanting to run, but knowing the moment she did, it would be over.

"Relax. He just told me to help you. He wasn't very helpful that's for sure. Just tell me what you want me to do." He tail wagged back and forth as she released Lyall from her death hug.

Lyall got back her breath soon after. "I don't need help with anything, especially your help. Hmph." And with that, she warped to another area. This didn't count as running away. She was still leveling after all.

"To hack...or not to hack. That is a stupid question. To hack is the right answer of course." And with that out in the world she warped back to Mac Anu. She pulled up the email-like screen on her desktop and searched for Lyall.

It appeared Lyall was in a dungeon alone, of course. She hated these areas, but there was nothing else she could do at this point. Most of the stuff she needed was in the dungeons. Hopefully she didn't lose her way. That tended to happen more than a handful of times. For the moment, she sat down to think about what her brother, what Kusari had done.

It was likely he was just acting like the big brother he was, when he really didn't need to. His efforts were all in vain at this point. "Who said I need help? I have always been fine to do things on my own, so why all of a sudden, huh? What is the big idea anyway?" Lyall sighed, closing her eyes. "Stupid game..."

"Do you always talk to yourself when you are alone," Luna said as she slowly skipped over to Lyall. Hidden Corpse's Shadow. It's only a level seven area. What are you doing here?" Lune knew that Lyall was too good for this kind of place. Not to mention she picked a really creepy name.

"If you honestly care to know, yes, I always talk to myself." Lyall answered without looking at Luna. "I have nothing better to do here ya know. Except apparently wait until my stalker shows up." She, of course, was pointing the finger at Luna, seeing as no one else had an interest in following her. "So 'Zaira from school', why did you follow me here?"

"I told you. I want to help you.' She was beginning to get annoyed. "Just, tell me what I can do...and don't tell me nothing or go away or anything like that."

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but I don't really need help. I am fine on my own." She stood up and walked further into the dungeon.

Luna slowly walked behind her, not bothering with staying quiet. She began to hum a song.

"You can go now," Lyall said looking back to see Luna still following behind her.

"No. I think I will stay," Luna said with a sleight edge in her voice.

"What is the point? Leaving me alone isn't that hard." Lyall had a hand on her duel swords, just in case.

"It is hard for someone with a personality like mine," she whined.

"Then I will make it easy." Lyall tried to log out, but failed. She wasn't able to log out or warp from the area. Something like that was not even a normal bug in the system, as with every game. "Damn him..." She knew her brother had dirtied his hands. That little meddler hacked her character.

"Did your brother do something wrong?" Luna asked cutely.

"Uh, n-no, not at all." What would happen to hackers if they were found out? Often she thought they ended up in jail or doing community service. Maybe even working at the company for free. Her brother wasn't that cheap, no matter how many times he hacked. And she wouldn't press charges against her own brother, but that couldn't be said for Luna. 'I am just gonna have to get through this dungeon and warp from there,' she sighed in thought.

"Let's get going," Luna sang cheerfully as she skipped in front of her friend.

Lyall had a feeling this trip would take longer than expected. "Stop being so happy, it makes me want to slap you."

Luna gave her friend a look. "Why? What's the point of being alive if you can't enjoy it?"

"Ugh, you are making me sick," she drawled. Ideals of life were not her strong suit.

"What's wrong with having a little fun?"

"Can you stop talking to me?" She was already fully annoyed, though this was most likely "a little fun" in Luna's eyes.

"Why are you being like that," Luna pouted. Things were not going well. She could usually get along with anybody, but this would be tough.

"Like what?" She continued walking, picking up the pace just a little.

"You're acting like everyone in the world hates you."

"Pfft..cause I hate this place. Think I really wanna waste my time doing something like this?" She kicked a treasure box open, getting only a healing potion, as always.

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Cause I don't have a choice." She looked to the ground while walking. "Why so curious?"

"I'm not," Luna said defensively. "I don't get curious...I get wonder. They're different."

"Right..." Lyall believed Luna to be a crazy psycho stalker who was in denial about being at all "curious".

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not insane, just pensive...I think that's the word I am looking for," she said thoughtfully.

"Uh-huh," Lyall continued. She couldn't believe a word that this person said. Even if it was Zaira from school, the matter still showed that Zaira and Luna were one in the same by following her around. "Don't like it then leave, or stop stalking me."

"Not until you agree to do an event with me," Luna smiled.

"Hell no." She spoke point blank. Lyall would never partner up with Luna, especially for a stupid event.

"Please," Luna pleaded. "It's just one small event. Kane is on vacation during this event so I really need another male character to be able to participate."

"Well," she paused. "Which event is it?" This was curiosity. She wasn't exactly willing to pair up with Luna, but it would boost her reputation in The World.

"You know about the arenas right? Where people fight each other. Well, they're having a prince and princess competition and the winner gets a special prize. I've heard that they are two really high level weapons that you can't get outside of the tournament,' Luna explained. "People participate in boy/girl pairs and enter the arena battles. If we win then we can get some really awesome items that nobody else in the world has!"

"Uh-huh..." She nodded skeptically. "Well, if you are that enthused...Either way I don't have a choice." Lyall wordlessly agreed, definitely not happy about the current situation. "I kick ass in arenas...at least that is something." She convinced herself the items were worth it, though she hardly believed it. At this point, nothing was worth it, but there wasn't anything else to do.

"Yeah," Luna cheered. She then proceeded to make her avatar dance.

"Whatever," Lyall said, bored. "If it lasts to long, I am out though."

"What are you talking about? How long is too long?"

"Don't know...five minutes...three seconds...depends on how bored I am," she shrugged.

"Uh...That's good to know. The event starts this weekend so I'll fill you in on the details at lunch...unless you want me to talk my head off now?"

"God, please no!" She protested loudly.

"Good, because I have to get going. I have a book that I have to start reading." Luna logged out.

Zaira set 'the world' things aside and grabbed Nerezza's diary. She slammed herself on her bed and flipped the book open to the first date.

_January 3rd_

_I guess I must be bored enough to really start another journal. Not that I care or anything. But I guess I have something to be happy about. For the first time, I saw snow. Not sure what city cause I just hopped on buses that took me away from home. _

_The small white flakes started gently, until they suddenly covered the entire ground. As I walked around, in the alley ways and back roads, everyone stared as if I had anything to give, as if I was better off than any of them. Sorry to say that I am not. Most of the time I don't live at home - I can't._

_I sat down in one of the ways with one other person. I silently watched his ever changing emotions as he clutched onto the necklace holding an old dog tag. Was it another soldier victim? _

_What am I saying, it is always another victim. That is when I noticed we were all soldiers at one point or another. Endless wars and attainable peace seemingly slipping between our hesitant little fingers, rough and blistered. "Got a story?" He said, expressionless._

_Somehow, his dead eyes made me want to cry for him. "Not really, though I guess that isn't true."_

_"We all got a story, little 'un." In the dark, his smooth, dark skin shadowed his figure._

_"So I realize. What's the point in being constantly stuck in the story though? Present is the story, which is what you should do." I stood up to take a seat next to him, curling into my knees. "So, brother, son, mother, father, what?" I simply asked._

_"My nephew...and my niece," he choked, hiding a small little dress beneath him. I understood. _

_"I am sure they know. You will be their savior, and this wave of snow is proof they are calling, desperately seeking your help. So put on the military mark, and hang onto that gift for your niece. No other point to just sitting here and thinking."_

_"I know. I wish I could. I just lost all strength awhile ago."_

_"We all did my friend." We sat in quite, admiring the falling snow and how it pushed out sound. A lullaby slipped between my lips, one I had never known. He immediately looked up at me with a tear streaking down his cheek._

_"How'dya know it?" _

_"Not sure. Perhaps they still hang around, ne?" I pat his head, gently smiling._

_"I should find a place now." I stood up on my feet again, brushing off the dirt and adjusting my bag. "Fortune shall smile upon you, my young boy. See ya around." He nodded. I felt him watching me walk into the distance, still humming the lullaby. _

_I ended up sitting under a tree in the forest that night. I climbed it to gaze upon the clear night sky. I had never seen so many stars before. "The air smells clean," I breathed in. I couldn't stop singing that lovely melody that the stranger had given me. Unaware, I drifted into a light sleep not too long before dawn._

Zaira closed the book. Her pillow was wet as well as her sleeve. She set the book over her stomach, lost in thought all night. Her final thought, almost an afterthought she voiced, "For being so harsh on the outside she is such a nice person. I just have to crack that shell." Most of her thoughts were scattered and didn't sound very reasonable She couldn't understand her own thought process, but it worked whatever it was. Her alarm buzzed and almost gave her a heart attack. She jumped up and turned it off. It was time to make lunch and then it was off to school.

Zaira walked down the street slowly and barely made it to class on time.

Nerezza quietly sat in her desk, expressionless and dead-eyed. Her mind was empty from not getting in any sleep. She had layed on her bed after logging out, doing nothing but thinking. It would be another day like any other...if Zaira left her alone. She felt the girl's presence but knew it was easier to ignore it.

Zaira's head rested on her arms. She couldn't hold back her sleep any longer. She slowly drifted away to sleep. The dream she had while sleeping made her cry. It was Nerezza's diary entry. She felt like she was having an out of body experience and she time traveled to the past. It was actually really trippy.

Nerezza couldn't help but stare. She didn't necessarily fall asleep, but she was fainting in and out remembering how that used to be. Falling asleep from no sleep, or limited sleep...somehow, she just got used to shaking it off. It seemed Zaira needed to ignore the command of her body that demanded sleep. Would she care and ruin her reputation as the cold, quiet girl? Or was it better to leave the situation untouched?

She reached her hand out, but let it fall back down. Zaira was too adorable to wake up, even though she had begun to cry. It wasn't her business. Staring at her blank lined notebook paper, Nerezza continued to slip into reality, and thought.

After spending only seconds in class, Zaira was woken up by the lunch bell. She picked her head up and yawned. She turned to Nerezza and asked, "Do you want to take your lunch now or do I have to chase you down and jump off a roof again?"

Her eyes widened, holding off blushing. "Y-you seem too tired for it. I would win in an instant and that would be no fun at all." In a roundabout way, she was choosing the first. Not only that, but she wasn't in the mood anyway. "No 'look-a-like suicides'." To other people, that would've been what it looked like last time. "Just a simple lunch on the roof, kay?" Her eyes were completely lost, as if she wasn't really there. She stood up, getting one step closer to the roof every second, slowly, attempting to wait for Zaira, all the while making it seem like she was coldly leaving her behind.

Zaira stretched her arms in the air and grabbed their lunches. She smiled as she tried to keep up with her friend. "Good. That makes it easy on me." Zaira looked at the window and caught her reflection. She hastily whipped away the remaining of her tears and tried to make her eyes look less red.

Nerezza pretended not to notice, forcing her head to stay stationary. "Yeah..." Though at some point all her questions would be asked, even if she didn't want them to be.

It didn't take long for them to make it to the roof. Nerezza took her usual spot in the shaded corner where the breeze hit most. Her eyes closed for a second while she let out a big sigh, hoping it would lighten the weight on her chest a little. It didn't.

Zaira sat next to her, half in the shade, half in the sun. She pulled Nerezza's lunch out of a bag and set it on her lap. "There you go. Enjoy!"

Nerezza stared at it like it was foreign. She refused to touch it, as usual. Food still wasn't her thing. "No thanks." She set it on the ground between them, pulling out her small notebook and pen to match. What to write? So many things were on her mind, different subjects overlapping and circling together without fault. She opened to the next blank page and started writing her fictional, non-fictional story. With other names, no one would know the difference, if someone were to get a hold of it.

"What'cha writing, Rez?" Zaira shortened her name to Rez because Nera was already taken by Anthony. Hopefully, she wouldn't get too pissed off.

She paused to look up, forgetting to breathe. "Uh...a story," Nerezza shyly responded, finally exhaling. The girl was a little surprised that Zaira wasn't shoving food in her face right about now.

Zaira scooted closer to her friend. "What kind of story," she asked curiously.

"Uh, not sure. The kind that have to be writ?" Nerezza's attention immediately turned to the side. "It's the kind of story that reminds you of life and allows you to see a different point of view." She relaxed again, comfortable speaking about something she knew, though the close proximity still kept her on her guard.

"You probably don't want me to read it, huh," Zaira asked sadly. "And it's lunch time, so eat the lunch I made for you!"

"Don't want to." She glared at the lunch bag like it would jump out and eat her. She set the blue pen on the ground next to her so she wouldn't lose it. Her trembling hand closed the notebook, looking away when it hit Zaira's lap. It was just a story, nothing else. It wouldn't hurt to let someone willing read it. "There." Her tone showed no regret, though it was soft and nervous.

Zaira blushed lightly and smiled. "That's the first step. The second step is to eat the lunch I made for you. There is more cake in it."

"I am not hungry," she said with a pout. Nerezza leaned against the concrete wall next to her, closing her eyes to rest. "Take it back."

"There is no taking it back. It will go bad if you don't eat it. That's just a waste of cake. You don't want to waste the cake do you," Zaira asked as she waved the food in front of Nerezza.

"I have done it so many other times. If you are that worried about it going bad, eat it yourself." She was half tempted to leave. But where else would she go for 'lunch' alone? Nerezza grabbed Zaira's hand, stopping the bag from moving. She pulled the bag from her hand, holding it over the side of the roof. "And if you don't stop, this is going overboard."

Zaira made a face. "If you do that then I'll have to tackle you off the roof with me to get it."

As if they hadn't done that one before. "I thought you weren't in the mood for that?" She teased, taking one finger off the bag. "If you want to jump again, tell me and this bag will go flying."

"Hey, that's up to you. If you drop it, you have to deal with my reaction."

"Fine." She let go of the lunch, smirking. The reaction couldn't be that bad.

"Well, you're in a good mood today," Zaira said calmly. "That was an empty box. I thought you would do something. now come have some cake."

Her eye twitched, eyes gaining darkness. Nerezza violently grabbed a hold of the other girl's shirt, irritated. "I spent all that time, trying to get to where I could jump off the roof again, and you say that was empty?!" She screamed.

"Well it wasn't exactly empty, but it was only a salad. The cakes are in this box and that is what is important."

Nerezza quickly took the box and threw it over the edge as hard as she could. "Come up with any other lunch and I will throw all your belongings off the roof." This was fun. Maybe it would become a new favorite sport of hers or something.

"The cake," Zaira mumbled as tears filled the corner of her eyes.

"What is so tear-worthy about cake?" She muttered.

"I made it," she sniffed.

"So? Make another one. Just learn not to tell me about it, otherwise you will end up in a repeat of today."

"But you said you liked it."

"It makes no difference. I am not going to be all happy and willing. You'd have to shove it down my throat." Otherwise she wouldn't eat anything. Not even Ani could get her to eat normally.

"If you don't want to eat good food then fine, but when you do want to eat...Come over to my house anytime. I'll make you something amazing and if you ever need a place to stay in case you get locked out again like the other day when you left your backpack at school, you are welcome anytime, but no more throwing cake off the roof, that's just plain evil."

It wasn't her fault. Zaira started it. "Whatever..." Nerezza stood up, forgetting about her pen, her story, and anything else that might've wandered up with her. "I think I better go..." Without so much as an explanation, she hopped down to one of the awnings, then jumped to the concrete ground. Hands in her pockets, she slowly walked around the sidewalk to reach the off campus exit the guards didn't bother to monitor.

"I can't pull that stunt," Zaira whined. "I'll catch up with you..uh, I don't think I can do what you just did without killing myself for real. I'm gonna take the stairs." Zaira ran down the stairs at full speed. She was almost out of the building when she thought, I should get our backpacks. She ran back up to the classroom and grabbed their backpacks. She got back outside and looked around for Nerezza. When she realized that she wasn't in sight she decided to play stupid and shout, "REZ!," at the top of her lungs.

The girl heard the amazing echo, knowing they would have to run for it soon. She back-tracked, putting her arm around Zaira's mouth and swinging around the corner. "What, you tryin' to get caught?" Nerezza didn't let go until they were safely off campus.

"I didn't see you. Here's your backpack."

"Jeez...scare the crap outta people..." She grabbed her bag, swinging it over her shoulder. Coldly, she walked forward, leaving Zaira a little bit behind.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"No clue....just away from irritation..." From her pack, she pulled out a small can. On the corner of one of the concrete sidings, she doodled a little poetry. At least she was caring enough to buy earth friendly spray paint. "Things have been on my mind lately...need to let my frustration relax a little." School didn't allow her to do that.

"Okay," Zaira nodded as she watched her friend work.

"If I get caught, you'll be in trouble too. Guilty by association would really suck at that point..." After two lines, she paused, moving further along for another two lines. "Would you want that?" Her eyes focused on the words.

"I don't care. It's not like my grades suck. Even though I miss school sometimes, I have never been below a B in any class. I don't have to worry about getting suspended or anything like that."

"Never know. Get in the wrong crowd, and despite your good grades, you would get suspended. Past records mean nothing in that situation." She turned her head to look at Zaira.

"So? If I get suspended then you will too. Then we can on 'The World' together," she smiled.

This girl...Nerezza's eye twitched. She was surprisingly happy about all of this. And all the fines if I get caught painting...she doesn't get it? "Ha, you are a little strange. Didn't your mother of teach you that getting in trouble is bad thing, and you should regret doing something that would get you in trouble?" This logic had been lost on her years ago.

"Not that I can remember. She died some time ago and I don't remember much. She did teach me to never regret my actions and I don't."

"Why not? Suspension is put on your record for the rest of your life...how would you not regret that?" Not that she could speak for herself about that. Regret never entered her mind with this stuff. To her, it was a freedom of expression, and graffiti was showing the world more then selfish emotions. "I mean, you could end up owing a lot of money if the police see us doing this..."

"Then I'll start investing in stocks. And I can always hack into the schools data base and take the suspension out of it just before I graduate," she added matter-of-factly.

Which other techy info is she with-holding? Jeez...She decided it wasn't worth it. After painting a couple lines on each wall until the poem reached a conclusion, she threw the can in the garbage, clapping her hands to shake off anything like dust or dirt that happened to get on her hands. "Fine then. Don't blame me for you childish decisions though..."

"That's fine with me. And don't blame me for my childish decision to stalk you on 'The Wolrd' because I want to help you with you deal thingy."

"Oh?" She had almost forgotten about that. "You met me not long ago...why would you want to help me....other than being such a damn softy.."

"Because I am nice. Other than that, I just have a feeling that I should help you."

"Pft, feelings...I wouldn't count too much on that..." She continued walking down the sidewalk.

"I like my feelings thank you. They have never once lead me astray."

"Now you jinxed it." She j-walked across the street, almost causing an accident.

"No I didn't. i say that all the time. It's about keeping a smile on your face. If you keep acting like something good will happen then it will. The same goes for bad things." She too, crossed the street, not wanting to be left behind by her friend.

"Then I wish lots of bad things for your mundane future." Nerezza spoke, not really caring about feelings at this point.

"That is so mean. I bet you really want to be happy. You know, deep down. I mean, really really really really really really really deep down."

"In the black hole replacing my ice cold heart? Yeah right..." She closed her eyes and sighed. She gave up on happiness. It never worked. When she tried to reach for it, it would lose it's being and disappear.

"Maybe you should stop trying to be happy and just be happy with me."

Nerezza almost stopped dead in her tracks. "What? Just what the hell does that mean?"

"Sometimes if you try, it doesn't work, but if you stop trying then it does. Like if you are looking for something, then give up, you usually find it. I didn't mean for it to sound rude. I'm sorry."

"Um..right..don't worry about it." She said, picking up normal speed.

"You understand what I mean right. Then again, we can always try the optimistic method. You could look at the bright side of things all the time."

She burst out in laughter. "Me? Act optimistic? You gotta be kiddin'..."

"I thought so. You didn't seem like you would be able to do that."

"Nope!" Actually, she wasn't sure what she was...But looking at the bright side was not her thing, though neither was the bad side. She just didn't see things with a "side". It just was.

"You seem like a very neutral person. Hey! let's meet on 'The World' later!" There has been a rumor on the message board recently that I want to check out. Please come with me!"

Oh boy, she thought, nonetheless following Zaira. "What rumor?"

"There is a rumor saying that if you go to the area Delta Agonizing Dusk's Pheonix there is an unbeatable boss. I want to see if the rumor is true. I bet it is just some weaklings going after it and losing."

"And you aren't one of them?"

"I am not weak! I have pretty strong character you know."

"On the outside? Yeah, way too many people say they are strong with confidence, when really, they are the weakest people out there." She had a strong character, but it was still weak. There were certain things that made her weaker.

"As far as I know, my character doesn't have many weaknesses. Although...hmmm." Zaira thought about her character's flaws. "I guess when I attack something I could use a little more strength. But since I attack faster they don't even stand a chance."

"At least you can admit you aren't all powerful," unlike my brother, she added in her head.

"Thanks. I think that may have been aa compliment. I'm so proud of you," she joked. "Anyway, I figure since we are in our high thirties it should be easy as pie."

"Sure..." She tried not to take the girl out for her comment. There was nothing to be proud about, even as a joke. "Then it should get over quick," the girl thankfully sighed.

"Yup. I mean, there is no way that there is an unbeatable boss. Do you think it ie actually unbeatable," she added a little hesitantly.

"Could be, I don't care as long as I get experience points for it." Even if it was unbeatable, there would be hell to pay if she didn't receive points for it.

"But if you can't beat it, how can you get experience points?"

"Who knows?"

"According to the rule book, you have to defeat a monster before you get experience points."

"Then if we lose the first time, I give up and leave." There were better ways to waste her time then trying to defeat a monster, only to die and not get anything for it.

"Well, if I lose to it, I'm gonna figure out a way to beat it. I don't care how much time I waste. This is going to be my new goal. Defeat the undefeatable boss."

"And I wish you the best of death," Nerezza truthfully said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I feel so much better knowing that you wish the best for me," Zaira said sarcastically.

"Oh, ya know I always do," she said in reply, feeling the tension grow.

Zaira's mood brightened. "You always wish the best for me...You said it. You are being optimistic...or at least happy...or in a good mood or something."

"Haha, very funny." She restrained herself from turning around and screaming at the girl. Being sarcastic meant nothing to her actual personality. It didn't mean she was optimistic because she was being sarcastic.

Zaira didn't want to say anything that would ruin the mood so she decided it was best to stay quiet.

"You aren't gonna apologize? I never wish you the best, remember?" Now she was about to go crazy. Did good and bad switch places on her without saying anything?

Zaira was lost in the conversation and said, "I'm sorry." It sounded more like question then an actual apology.

"Fine, whatever..." She didn't care anymore. As long as Zaira didn't hurt her chances, there would be no problem.

"Would you mind telling me what the deal between you and your brother is?"

"Classified," she sternly stated.

Zaira pouted. "What is wrong me knowing?"

"I would have to tell you a lot of shit that you would hate to listen to, take me hours to explain, and even then you might not even understand." She hoped they could just leave it alone.

"Alright. Whatever."

"Thank you," she unexpectedly said.

"Uh. You're welcome, i guess."

"Yeah..."

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A/N: Hmm… An unbeatable monster or weaklings…which will it be. Read on to find out. Review if you want to find out faster!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

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Luna logged in. She already knew that her friend was at the dome; hopefully she was waiting for her. Although, there was a little voice in the back of her head that said she was just having a tough decision choosing where to go. Luna ignored that part of her mind for two reasons. One: it was usually wrong and two: it was always being so god damn depressing.

She arrived in the Central district and bought a few items that may help the two fight the 'unbeatable boss'. She then continued to run up to the dome. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before entering. She didn't know why, but she was kind of nervous. The doors seemed to open in slow motion as she walked in.

Lyall stood around the corner, somehow thinking there was a way out of this, when she knew there wasn't. Nothing could make her abandon this, without slightly feeling guilty. She had to do this, even if it was for selfish reasons.

Turning around and entering, she immediately saw her partner, but decided not to call out or wave or even say hello. She simply walked up--or rather he--walked up, ready for the fight, already stocked on items and held the best weapon she--he--had. "So Luna, the unbeatable boss?" She asked, monotone.

"Let's go," she said excitedly. She wasn't very loud, but the way she said them with so much energy made it seem so much louder than it truly was. She stood in front of the warp ring and sent an invite to Lyall. If they were in a party together, then things would go much smoother.

Lyall quickly accepted, coming to terms with it all. Just as long as this was over quickly, everything would be okay. "Whatever," he drawled, following Luna now that he was in her party.

"Alright," Luna cheered. "To Agonizing Dusk's Phoenix!" And with that, they warped to the area.

It was dark. Apparently a night area. It wasn't a very large field; then again, it was only a level twenty-seven area. "We should kill all of the other monsters first. Is that okay," she asked her friend. She knew Lyall wanted to get things done and over with as soon as possible.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, looking around for the first monster. If it was only level 27, this would be a breeze for the two of them. An unbeatable monster at level 27 was obviously beatable.

"According to my information source there are only two types of monsters in this area. Fever Horse and Carrie. Then there is the boss. A Baz Giant. That sounds real easy," Luna said. She liked being well-informed when she went to check out rumors.

"I don't care about the names, I just want this to be done and over with." Lyall strode forward, killing the first group of two fever horse and one Carrie, receiving items she had previously stocked up on. "Next."

Luna twitched a little. She pointed behind her and said, "We need some chim spheres to operate that warp point back there." She already had plenty of chim spheres, but she thought it would be fun to kick some, just for the heck of it. "Unless you already have some." Saying that ruined her fun, but she didn't want Lyall to get too impatient with her and leave.

"Kick some if you want, just don't do it for too long..." Lyall crossed his arms, not at all interested in the little game included by kicking chim. He didn't want to run around and kick them. He didn't see the point unless he needed some, which he didn't.

"You're no fun Lyall," Luna said with her hands on her hips. "Let's just go." Luna walked up to the warp point and inserted the chim spheres needed and teleported to the other side. She successfully surprise attacked a couple of Carrie and Fever Horse.

"Good job," was his only reply as he went after one of the other group of enemies.

Luna couldn't complain about her company because she invited him, but somehow she felt that he wasn't being mean...maybe this was him being nice.

"How long till we get to the monster?" He asked, stabbing another Carrie until it died.

"Ummm, it is back across the warp point and over the bridge," Luna said as she looked at her map. "There is only one more set of monsters. And that is at the bridge connecting to the boss area. There are two Fever Horse. And then it is just the boss."

"Awesome. Let's go." He ran back over to the warp, forgetting that Kusari had made so he couldn't warp without his team there with him. He growled in frustration.

Luna caught up quickly knowing everything Kusari did to Lyall's character. She was really tempted to take everything off and let him do as he pleased, but having him wait for her at the warp was kinda fun. She didn't like the growl he made, but overlooked it because he was being very well behaved. She teleported with her friend and they took out the Fever Horse in seconds. They crossed the bridge and Luna looked at the boss with sparkles in her eyes. She lived for fighting with bosses.

"Stop being so girly about this and let's get it over with," Lyall sighed, scratching the back of his head. He began walking over to the unbeatable monster, knowing Luna would follow.

Luna followed closely behind and entered the battle. It wasn't long before the two defeated the monster. This made Luna mad. "What the heck?! So it was just a bunch of weaklings going after it! That was such a waste of ti-"

"Kukukukukukuku..." A small triangle shaped creature appeared in front of the two. The laugh was scary weird. "I am the evil lord Podoboo! You have destroyed all of my precious monsters! Now my most powerful monster shall destroy you!" The creature raised his arms in the air and a dragon looking machine monster appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey, Lyall...Do you think that this is supposed to be the undefeatable monster," Luna asked calmly.

"Dunno." Lyall pulled out his weapon and immediately went after the CPU. He hit it with no problem.

"Owww! What are you doing?!" The CPU looked pissed and the dragon machine stomped forward. Luna bounced up with every step as it stomped closer. "Dragonaut! Destroy these infidels!" Podoboo jumped onto the dragons back as it spewed fire at the two.

Luna stepped back out of its range and used an item to put the monster to sleep temporarily. This was not in the information she gathered!

Eh, it was no big deal to Lyall. He thought of it as just something else that was making this take way too long. Still, he paralyzed it, getting into range to slash it.

Zaira cracked her hands and started hacking into the system to find out what was going on. There was nothing in the system about this anywhere so she decided, oh well, let's slice it up.

First they had to beat down its guard. Then it was easy pickings.

Lyall had already taken down its guard. To be fair, he left the rest of it to Luna. "I beat it halfway, now you kill it."

"You can have such an attitude sometimes," Luna huffed. It didn't take more than a few hits to kill it now that the guard was gone. "Happy? I finished quickly. We can leave now."

Podoboo turned red. "This is not finished! I will have my revenge!" In a cloud of smoke he disappeared.

"Revenge..." She turned to Lyall. "I thought that dragon thing was his revenge..."

"It's like a bad movie I guess...one of those where even after you kill the bad guy and his minions, ten thousand times, they still come back for 'revenge'...and if it is like that, I quit." He turned towards the warp point.

Luna agreed. That was a pretty lame boss, too. It wasn't near as much fun as it could have been. "What now," she asked Lyall.

"Aren't we done?' Lyall asked in response.

"Yeah, but maybe we could still hang out."

"What?" Lyall faced her, lips turned down into a scowl. "Why?"

Luna held her arms up in surrender. "Never mind. I have to keep reading that book anyway. Later!" Luna logged out.

"Book?" Lyall logged out.

Nerezza now lay on her bed trying to think of another way to pass the time. But she couldn't help it. What book? She quietly thought to herself. She hadn't seen Zaira with a book lately. Brushing it off, she pulled out her notebook once more and began writing absolutely nothing.

At first Zaira had been reluctant to read Nerezza's diary, but now it had a certain appeal to it. She would know things about the girl that her own family didn't know about. She was hoping that somewhere along the line Nerezza could come to her when she wasn't feeling well. Not just when she was sick, but when she needed help or for whatever. Reading this diary might better her chances of that.

About an hour past since Nerezza last looked at the evil green numbers on her clock. And all she had was a paragraph. She could do better than that, but not right now. No, right now she had to go out for a walk in the darkest of night.

Zaira sighed after finishing yet another day in the life of Nerezza. If she kept reading like this she might not go to school tomorrow because of her lack of sleep or maybe it would be because her eyes were red and swollen. She shrugged at the thought. She set the book inbetween others of similar size and shape that were sitting on a shelf nearby. Zaira wasn't nearly tired enough to go to bed so she decided to pick up a late night snack. Perhaps she would finish up that cake sitting on the counter.

Nerezza sat under the largest tree capable of hiding her from anyone who decided to pass by the park at this godly hour. She flipped open her book and began writing again, this time with more inspiration flowing through her mind. There was always a moment when a spark lit once she was out of her own house. Not home, that place was nowhere near a home for her. "Hm...What should I write?" The girl set her bag next to her, laying her head back with a sigh. "Why am I writing this?"

"That's a good question. Why does anybody write anything and for that matter, why must I always force feed you cake," Zaira asked out of nowhere. She stepped out from behind the tree baring the gift of cake. "You really should just eat it on your own."

Nerezza dropped everything, as in; she literally jumped into the air only to fall back down and almost crush her bag, while the pen and notebook had long left her hands. "Oh holy merciful goddess!" Nera frantically stood, composing herself once again. "Cake? Why in the world did you stalk me just to feed me disgusting cake? I won't eat it, you know."

"I wasn't stalking you," Zaira blushed. "I was just walking by and I saw you."

"Yup, this does not explain why you managed to find me hidden, behind this one tree, in the dark. I think that would be a dead ringer for stalking. I'm careful about not being seen." Nerezza quickly gathered her possessions, slinging her bag over her shoulder and stating, "Now that you've found me, I must move someplace where I definitely won't be seen. Thanks for taking my number one hiding spot." And she started walking toward the forest beyond the park gate. "If you follow, don't get lost 'cause I will not help you out."

"Okay," Zaira saluted with a smile, being sure not to mess up the cake she held.

"What?! You plannin' on following me?" Nera halted and faced Zaira.

Zaira had a confused look on her face. "You said that I could."

Nerezza grumbled and continued further into the maze of trees. "Whatever. Spill the cake and I'll laugh."

"That's just mean," Zaira pouted. "And cake is too good to just spill or drop."

"Oh? What if I turned around and knocked it over? What would you do then?" Nerezza smirked.

"I would make more tomorrow," Zaira answered simply. She would die a little bit inside, but she wouldn't tell Nerezza that.

"Make more?! I should destroy everything associated with cake just to see you cry," Nerezza kept her face blank.

"Why? It wouldn't last too long. I would move on to ice cream."

Oh gods, did this girl never quit? "Fine, you know what? Eat your cake and ice cream, but could you please leave me out of it? Your presence here is more of an annoyance. Like extra baggage." Nerezza thought it would be rude, and she didn't exactly mean for those words to come out like they did, however, she hoped it would do the trick.

"But extra baggage is good. You get more room to put things in it," Zaira beamed.

No such luck. Nerezza cursed and muttered under her breath, swiftly taking safety in one of the trees. Her movement was too fast for Zaira to see, so she was hidden again in the middle of the forest. All she had to do was scare her off a little.

Zaira blinked a few times. "That is so not fair," she whined. "REZ!"

Nerezza made no movement, no noise to give away her position. A breeze ruffled the trees and she masked in with that to get into a comfortable position on the high, hidden branch. Oh yes, she was ninja.

Zaira shivered in the breeze. She walked over to a tree and sat at the base. "That's really not fair," she mumbled.

It was extremely fair. Nerezza really wanted to be left alone, and Zaira was not understanding with that. The girl would follow if Nera jumped off a cliff! For now, she would simply watch the lost, suddenly alone, follower.

This was definitely not fair. I mean, she even brought cake...CAKE!!! Zaira opened up the bundle and began to devour the cake. Couldn't anything make her sad?

Nerezza idly spectator. She could care less about the cake. She had lived her whole life without eating the sweet sugary baked good, so this would do nothing to make her give away her position.

Zaira paused from eating the cake for a moment. "Maybe I should make a cake especially for Rez...yeah, I think I will," she told herself. "And if Rez doesn't want one, now would be the time to tell me," she shouted cheerfully.

It was a trap Nera would not fall for. She could pretend she didn't hear that, say she had no idea what Zaira was talking about when the special cake was presented. After all, Zaira should already know she didn't eat cake.

Zaira pouted. "Fine. I'll make you a spinach cake then," she said evilly.

She didn't like spinach, either. So, she still wouldn't eat it. And if the girl forced her to eat it, she would just spit it back out. Really, there was no winning for Zaira.

"I wonder what Rez's favorite food is...Maybe I can make her that."

Favorite food? Oh boy...she was persistent. Nerezza didn't have a favorite anything. And when did she give Zaira permission to call her Rez so casually?

"She says she doesn't eat much, but I still wonder what her favorite food is...It could be tomatoes...or broccoli," Zaira thought aloud.

Favorite food? Man, this was getting worse and worse to hear about. Still, she wouldn't give away her position just because she was annoyed to hear the girl speak,

Zaira stopped talking and just began to think. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the tree trunk. It was a strange feeling. Sturdy yet somewhat soft. I hope I'm not lying on moss, she thought.

Really? Nerezza thought this girl would have backed down by now, but she seemed to be holding her own in this silent battle. Nera opened her mouth to say something, and then immediately closed it, remembering she didn't want to be noticed. This was something to freak Zaira out, not to be made into a playful argument. Wait, did Nera just think this was playful? Oh man, she was definitely going downhill.

Zaira snuggled up against the tree with a smile. They're so comfy! Why don't I do this more often, she thought.

Nerezza hoped the girl would fall asleep. Then she would be free to go. Even if that happened, the noise of climbing down the tree would be loud enough to wake her. Oh well, guess I'll be sleeping here for the night, Nera thought.

I am this close to falling asleep. But if I fall asleep here then I'll definitely catch a cold. If I catch a cold then it will cause a lot of trouble for my friends and family. Zaira continued her little mind rant as she rolled around against the tree.

Nera lazily fell against the tree, careful to be silent as she closed her eyes. Unlike Zaira, she was used to sleeping outside. It was guaranteed that something small like this wouldn't throw her off balance. I'm sure she'll regret this.

Zaira sighed and decided to finally call it quits. She fell asleep as soon as she admitted defeat.

Damn it, she inwardly cursed. Zaira was stupid for falling asleep outside. Would this be her fault if the idiotic girl caught a cold? Not necessarily, but somehow she would still feel somewhat responsible, even if it wasn't her fault at all or tomorrow she pretended to know nothing. But this could be a trick to reveal Nera's hiding spot. Oh, the battle of her mind was just too much to handle. She swiftly hopped down from the tree against her better judgment.

It was baffling at first. She just stood in front of the sleeping (or not sleeping) Zaira, and stared curiously. Thanks to this girl, she wasn't able to go back and log into "The World". At least her character was leveled up enough for now. She would just have to do combat with enemies five levels higher than her to make up for it. Oh, how this girl would pay. Nera didn't have an extra jacket or blanket. Without one, this girl would definitely freeze. "Don't hate me," she said more to convince herself. After all, this was so unlike her, so how could she not start to dislike herself? First it was the bite of cake, and now she was going to freely offer warmth? She was like a mother desperately staying by her children to keep them warm. "Ridiculous," she whispered, finally sitting down next to Zaira and laying her down in her lap. "Better not catch a cold," Nera absently mumbled, carefully taking off her outer shirt and putting it over Zaira. A tank top meant nothing in this weather for Nerezza. She made sure to wrap her arms around Zaira, acting as a blanket and slowly fell into a light sleep.

Zaira snuggled into the warmth. She couldn't help wondering why the tree was so warm. By this time, however she was so sleepy, she didn't care. She just drifted off into a deeper sleep. Even a marching band couldn't wake her up now.

Nera blushed. She wasn't expecting that reaction. In fact, she had been slightly hoping that the girl would be appalled and lean the other way. "Now what do I do?" She muttered silently to herself. "Just...don't wake up," she chanted over and over, trying to get back to sleep after that sudden wake up call.

"If you keep muttering then I will wake up you know," Zaira mumbled. She didn't actually hear what she was saying per say, but she heard noise...tiny little particles of noise... She was a strange sleeper indeed.

Oh, damn it all to hell! At this rate, she would be woken up even if she managed to get to sleep. Nera almost pushed the girl off of her, but instead just decided it was better to just lay there against the tree hoping, really, truly hoping Zaira wouldn't wake up. Another sleepless night, but it was worth it since it was to help prevent something that would be her fault.

* * *

A/N: *sigh* another chapter done...it took forever though, didn't it. Anyway, keep reading and like always leave a review.


	7. Chapter 7

Kirity: Heheh. Sorry. I've had this chapter forever and totally forgot to post it.

Wolfy: Way to go idiot.

Kirity: *sigh* I know.

* * *

Chapter 7

Zaira mumbled as she woke up a bit cold. She was all nice and warm until a little while ago too. One second it had been warm, she felt a little movement and then bam! It was cold. She walked briskly to her house and changed into something overly warm. After a few minutes she began to sweat so she changed into clothes that would suit the day, and then she remembered that she had school today. She glanced at the clock. It was still early and there was no need to rush so she took her sweet little time walking to school, not thinking about anything in particular. That is, until she thought about the prince and princess tournament on The World. She had to fill Rez in on all the information. Maybe they could go on a leveling trip together, or even another rumor hunt. She might even be able to get Kusari to join them. That could be fun!

When she finally arrived at school, she suddenly got depressed. School had always been boring, but ever since she met Narezza it had become to tiresome. She thought about skipping altogether, but since she was already there she didn't want to waste the energy going back home. Besides, at lunch she would definitely follow Rez up to the roof...or where ever she decided to go today.

Needless to say, Nerezza never made it back home that night. At one point, she believed that Zaira would indeed not catch a cold, and therefore it was safe to go back into hiding in the trees. The sun had woken her in the early hours. Regretfully, she hopped down. Her face was blank as she quickly walked to school, dressed slightly different from yesterday, meaning she could only change her shirt. It had been the only piece of clothing in her bag.

Something nagged in her mind, though. Did Zaira notice her presence? It was doubtful, but there was still something she was forgetting. Oh well, the annoying pest would surely remind her during the school day. She would have to be an expert in hiding if she wanted to avoid any lectures about forgetting. Where else would she go beside the roof? Perhaps another "suicide" gag would fit nicely...

Nerezza walked into the room and Zaira perked up. "Good morning Rez," she said with a cheerful smile.

"Sure," Nera half mumbled after taking her seat. Too bad she couldn't something about her damp backpack before arriving. At least she's not sick, the girl absently thought.

"Are you excited about the prince and princess tournament this weekend, Rez?" Zaira was in an even happier mood since Rez said good morning back...sort of.

That's what she had forgotten. That stupid tournament she had been talked into joining was soon. Today? Tomorrow? Next week? It didn't matter. She just needed to get it over with. "Sure," she drawled.

"You definitely sound excited," Zaira said with a sarcastic tone. "You forgot didn't you?"

"No!" Oh, that answer was a bit too quick.

Zaira gave her friend a creepy smile. "Oh, really? I think you're lying."

Nera visibly shrunk back, sinking down into her seat. Why'd this have to start? Talking in the morning was not fun. Actually, talking period was not fun. "I'm not."

"Of course you're not," she said happily.

A low growl set in Nera's throat. Was this girl trying to irritate her? She was too...cheerful. It would be possible to ditch the tournament if need be. Spending her time leveling alone was suitable enough.

Just as Zaira opened her mouth, the bell rang and class started. As soon as lunch started she hopped up with her lunch and proceeded to follow Rez around, such was becoming the new daily ritual.

Nerezza had to find someplace other than the roof. Wait, she remembered seeing an unused janitor's closet down that one hallway. It would be a good hiding spot until the end of lunch. With haste, she headed there and hid inside it.

Zaira picked up her speed and tried not to lose Rez's trail.

Nera had securely closed the door, laying her head against the wall. The small space was surprisingly comforting. It was likely she would fall asleep.

Zaira saw Rez walk into a closet and pounded on the door. "Rez! I need to speak with you." She was creating a scene outside. She didn't normally like standing out so much, but this was fun.

What? That was impossible. Zaira went to the roof. If she had gone up to the roof, why was she suddenly pounding on the door? Nera decided not to answer.

Zaira glared at the door. Maybe if she glared enough it would melt. ...like that was gonna happen. "Come on Rez. I'll make a scene if you don't open up."

Scenes. She just had to pull the dramatic card. Nera slammed the door open, hoping it would collide with her stalker. "Make your scene," Nerezza mumbled. She just kept walking. It really didn't matter if the girl followed her all around the school.

The just barely missed Zaira as she jumped back. Nerezza was being very difficult right now. Still, she followed after her friend.

Nera whipped around the corner breaking into a full speed run, too fast for most to keep up with. She avoided every barrier and obstacle with ease. Her feet took her outside and in through another door. Where was she going? The answer became clear when she saw the tennis court. Empty. Like a barren wasteland. Even if Zaira managed to follow the track, at least there would be no one around to watch the "scene".

There was no way she would be able to keep up with that girl, but that didn't stop her from trying. She chased after her. When she reached the door, Rez was well out of sight. "Uh-oh. Where do I go now?" Zaira looked around. Every where she looked there were students...except around tennis court. Zaira smiled an evil smile and ran there. It was her best bet.

Nerezza sat beneath the bleachers out of sight. Running had always been one of her better talents. She briefly thought about the one time she decided to try out for track to make her brother happy. Yeah, that didn't go over well. Too many people. And too many people that wanted to kill her for being so damn good at running.

Zaira reached the court and immediately proceeded to look for her friend again. There was no sign of her so she decided to take a break and eat her lunch. Tracking her down in 'The World' was a lot easier than in real life.

Nera, unfortunately, heard other footsteps, and when they pause, she almost stopped breathing. Maybe it would be possible to hide until lunch was over. She might miss the beginning of the next class, but it would be better than Zaira finding her. In the real world, she didn't have her brother here to expose her. And thank goodness for that.

Zaira climbed up onto the nearest set of bleachers and opened her lunch.

Just a little bit more time to go and she would be safe.

Zaira had no apitite so she pulled out her pocket notebook and logged into 'The World'. She wasn't gonna play it, she just wanted to read the rumors. See if there was anything worth disproving.

Nerezza was always good at these things. Hiding, slowing her breathing as to not get caught. And most of all, she wasn't being forced to eat anything disgusting.

Zaira glanced over the rumor boards looking for something tasty to chew on and found it. There was a rumor about a lonely prince waiting for his princess. She assumed that this was for the prince and princess tournament and as she read more, she found that she had been correct. She already had a partner, but thought this would be a good chance to check out the competition. She smiled to herself and saved the search so that she didn't have to find it again later. After that she just skimmed the rest of the rumors without even a care. Nothing interesting seemed to be going on in 'The World' right now.

Sitting still was boring. Nera needed to move around before her entire body tingled, telling her that she wouldn't be able to move properly for another half hour or so. She carefully got onto her knees and poked her head around to see the screen. Stupid rumor board. Most of the time nothing came out of those. However, it reminded her that she needed to level more in order to beat her brother. The deal was still in effect.

Zaira began to mumble things to herself. "I can't get past level 49...otherwise I can't participate in the tourny. I have to tell Rez that too. Knowing her, she'll easily pass that level if I don't tell her.

Level 49? She wouldn't be able to do much leveling before the tournament then. Lyall was already level 47! And she never kept track of how much experience points she was receiving.

Of course, Zaira still had a ways to go with levels before she hit that. She was only level 45 right now, but she could be level 49 after going to two areas. She calculated how many levels you can grow by where you go. Everyone she told said that it was complicated, but it was very simple.

Maybe Nera could settle with going to a level 30 dungeon or something. It would be something to do, but she wouldn't receive more than a hundred experience points. Or so she guessed.

Nerezza jumped out from under the bleachers. The bell rang and she ran at full speed back to the main building. Again, she somehow managed to avoid the rush of people, but gaining many weird looks as she flew past them.

Zaira was much slower than her friend, but she still made it back to class on time.

She couldn't wait until this day was over. Nera would go to the library and log in for two hours. She still wasn't planning on going back home. Not unless her brother demanded it of her.

Zaira was getting better at the whole track Rez down thing and knew she wouldn't be able to find her after school so she rushed home and logged into 'The World'. Turns out that was a good discussion. She caught up with Lyall just before he went off to god knows where. "Hey Lyall," she shouted as she ran up to him. "Wanna go on another rumor hunt with me? Actually, it would be more like checking out our competition for the tournament, but whatever. You wanna come?"

Nera sighed. Great, now she could be easily found here, too. Oh, and such bad timing for her "friend". A current message from her brother would take priority over some stupid rumor hunt. "No," Lyall simply said. "I have better things to do."

Well, you don't have to be rude about it, she thought. _It's not like I was gonna drag you along regardless of what you said_. "Okay. Oh, hey! Try not to grow over level 50 because if you do then you won't be able to participate in the tournament and I will hunt you down and bother you until I die...kay?"

Gods, and she did not want that. A ghost of some annoying persistent girl didn't sound appetizing. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Can I go now?" Lyall put his hands on his hips.

"Oh, go on ahead," she said a little flustered. She hadn't meant to hold him up or anything like that.

Without another word, Lyall transported to a level 40 dungeon to meet her brother. He said it was urgent. And the deal was mentioned. She didn't have a choice this time. "What's so important?" She asked, taking on a thick coldness.

"Can't you be a little nicer to a little girl? And besides, you are in front of a guest."

"What guest?" Lyall scowled. Kusari smirked and gestured behind him, in which the "guest" took the hint and stepped up. "It's...a dude...and....it's pink."

"And it has a name," the guy in pink said. "Call me Skyli." Nera slapped her head. Her brother got her again. And she was stuck until he said this was over. It wouldn't be over for awhile.

*~*~*~*~*

Luna sighed and teleported to the rumored area. She battled through all of the monsters, stocked up on chim spheres and even found the lucky animal. She wandered around looking for the rumored lonely prince and happily trounced up to him.

*~*~*~*~*

"So, what are we doing here, exactly?" Lyall questioned Kusari.

"Skyli here wanted to go on a quest, but it needed three people. And of course I was nice enough to ask him if he was fine with you coming along." Lyall's death glare was enough to bring about a sudden explosion ranging a thousand miles.

"Listen, Kusari," he spat like it was the plague. "If it's not the deal, and it's not urgent, then I'm leaving. Have fun with Pinky." Lyall transported. But she ended up back in the same dungeon.

"Not so fast there, silly," Kusari giggled. "Surely you haven't forgotten about my expert skills in hacking your character."

"Don't taunt the poor...boy," Skyli smiled. Watching them go back and forth was enough entertainment for him. Lyall heaved a sigh and moved forward. There was nothing like defeating monsters to get rid of your anger. She cleared the first level in seconds. Being a higher level sure helped. However, she was still way behind her brother.

"Ne-Lyall," Kusari corrected herself, "This really is part of the deal. See, Skyli here now knows who you are. It's one more person that can spread the word."

"Just shut up." Lyall turned and grabbed Kusari's collar. "If it weren't for your stupid hacking skills, I would have turned into a PKK just for the sake of getting rid of you. Now stop making excuses and finish this damn mission. I have more important things to tend to."

"Time limit?" Kusari answered. It was more than obvious to him that she was at the library. Lyall growled and continued deeper into the dungeon. She didn't even know what the quest was. But it would be over soon. It would have to be.

*~*~*~*~*

"Hiya," Luna said cheerfully.

He turned around and stared at Luna. "Who the hell are you?"

He's not very polite. "I'm Luna. I heard you were looking for-"

"Oh! Are you another fangirl who wants to be my princess?" Without waiting for an answer he continued, "Sorry, but that spot has been taken. I don't need a weak little peasant like you."

"Who said I wanted to be your partner?! I already have one! And he's way better then you," she shouted.

"Yeah, right. I bet he's an adept rogue just like you. Adept rogues are the worst characters in 'The World'."

Luna was keeping her temper in check until he said that. "Oh yeah! We'll show you! We'll definitely win that tournament!"

"Is that a bet?"

"Huh," Luna blinked.

*~*~*~*~*

They finally cleared the dungeon, and as Nera suspected, there was no real point other than to clear out the dungeon. "You stupid girl! I swear, I am never answering your mails again. Not you, or Skyli."

"But, I really was doing you a favor."

"I could really care less. I have to do this myself or it would be cheating. You said so yourself, big bro."

"I didn't help you cheat, though."

"I. Don't. Care." Lyall growled again. This entire thing was pointless. Maybe she would just quit. That stupid deal didn't mean much anyway. "I'm not talking to you, and I certainly don't want Mr. Flamboyant here to spread my name around. Got it?" He poked Kusari's shoulder.

"Fine, fine, we get it, we get it."

"Good." Lyall successfully transported back to town. He sat down for a little rest. He needed to calm down. Otherwise he really would turn into a player killer killer. Nera sighed and decided to just sit and stare at the library computer screen. Inwardly, she cursed her brother for wanting to be helpful.

*~*~*~*~*

Luna teleported back to town after her little escapade. She sent a message to Lyall saying that they were defiantly going to win the tournament no matter what and logged out. She went into the forums and posted in the lonely princes forum. 'You better be prepared to lose you stupid prince! This is a declaration of battle!' After that she turned off the computer and went to bed. She was too angry to do anything else really.

Lyall read the extremely irrelevant message and logged off just before the library system booted her out. Nera slung her bag over her shoulder and calmly walked out. Not home, not an escape house, nothing. It would be better if she just went and hung in the woods again. It would be much different with the sun still up. So that is what she did. No one else was hanging around to watch her climb up a tree and sit on the relaxing branch.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Zaira woke up refreshed and ready to fight. It was finally the day of the Prince and Princess tournament in 'The World'. Luna and Lyall were gonna take home the gold for sure!

Nera, again, had forgotten what she had agreed to do. Getting up from her nap in the trees was uneventful. Same with school. Nothing of importance happened. So after school, she hopped over to the library, still not feeling like it was safe to return to her house, and logged into the world. Thankfully, her brother hadn't messaged her. She didn't even want an apology from him. Still, she waited in town for something to come up.

Luna had been logged in ever since she got home. When she finally noticed that Lyall was online she happily began looking for him...by hacking into the system and finding her character's location. She smiled to herself and skipped to the town. "There you are Lyall," she said like she had actually been looking for him. "Are you ready to go to the tournament," she asked excitedly.

"Damn..." She had forgotten again. Lyall sighed. "Sure. Whatever. Make it quick though." She only had two hours on the library computer.

"Come on. We have to go to Lumina Cloth for the tournament." She charged into the Dome and up to the teleporter making it move her to the city of Lumina Cloth. It was the city of night life and it showed. The deep dark blue sky held the moon in its full shining brightness and there were so many lights on you couldn't see a single star.

Lyall quietly followed, not to happy that she had been talked into doing this. "Yeah, yeah." Lumina Cloth didn't really awe her in anyway. It was just another place for people to be in the way and challenge each other to meaningless duels. Or insult each other before the tournament began.

"I check us in at the kiosk so you can go wait by the warp point, kay?" Without waiting for the answer she walked up to the kiosk and handed the lady behind the desk her and Lyall's registry forms.

"Prince Lyall and Princess Luna have now been signed in. A confirmation message will be sent to you in a moment."

Luna waited patiently for the confirmation message and quickly confirmed.

"Welcome to the Prince and Princess tournament. Please enter the palace."

Luna smiled at the NPC and turned around, bumping into someone. "Sorry," she mumbled and then after looking at him for a minute she said, "oh, wait. No I'm not."

"Well, if it isn't the little peasant fangirl?"

"I'm not a fangirl and I'm not a peasant," she said quickly. She looked around hoping to see his partner, but nobody was next to him. "Did your partner get scared and run off?"

"No. She's right over there," he said pointing to a cleric. She was really pretty...way out of his league. "Don't get scared and run off yourself now."

"Oh, I'm not. We're gonna beat ya easy," Luna replied. "I'll see you in the finals."

"If you make it there."

Luna hissed at him and stomped over to Lyall. "Let's go," she growled.

Lyall glanced over at the kiosk and noticed the smirking boy. It was obvious that Luna had been talking to him. Lyall nodded and continued into the palace, following his partner. "He looks weak," he mumbled.

"He's a steam gunner," Luna told him. She ended up hacking to see what he was and what level he was at. "We should focus on keeping him nearby for close combat. Although taking out the cleric first would be a good idea, so that he can't use her to heal." Luna was lost in her forming of a strategy to beat him that she almost hit a wall.

Lyall stared at her as if she was the dumbest person. Obviously she wasn't much of a multi-tasker. "I don't care for details or plans. I already said he's weaker, so it doesn't matter how we do it. As long as we keep hitting him, there won't be time to heal him." Lyall already felt the annoyance building.

"One of us will have to fight the cleric at the same time so she can't heal the bastard." Luna was officially in a bad mood. She was **never** in a bad mood. Nobody had ever put her in a bad mood, but **this guy**...this guy was gonna get it.

"Fine. You attack the cleric. I can beat him faster than you can," he said. If she wanted to completely humiliate this guy, it would be better to take him down faster. And seeing as clerics were often left open during battle, they would take down both in the same amount of time. And having two members taken out before the end is worse than one.

"Alright," although I really wanted to beat the crap out of him myself, she added in thought.

"Good. This will be over in no time. Make sure you have the cleric dead before my last hit on the leader, that way they both go down at the same time, in the same second. Don't worry about the timing because I will know exactly how to make it happen. Anyone who messes with rogues are shown their place. And his place is evidently last on the food chain." Lyall didn't even realize how much he had just said.

Luna looked at Lyall with wide eyes. "That's probably the most you ever said to me." Her eyes returned to normal and she gave her friend a happy smile.

Lyall rolled his eyes. He took the lead, more confident than ever. "Just get this over with." He opened the doors leading into the tournament. "How long until we get to beat the guy?"

Luna looked around for the brackets. "It looks like we'll be in the final match together...if he even makes it that far."

"He will, no doubt," Lyall stated. "He may be stupid while talking to you, but his princess is the real deal, that stupid cleric. She might be weaker than he is, but she still has better strategy. But, it still won't be hard for you to take her down. Stubborn is and stubborn does. She's just your type of enemy." Nera recalled her being one of the girls her brother helped out in the beginning. She didn't like her then, either. "All the others will be like squishing ants for both our teams."

"You don't have much confidence in the other teams, do you?"

"These guys are amateurs at best, only in it to win it. All they want is the prize, or the fame, or some other lame thing they think they'll get out of it. I know they may have better strategies, but that doesn't last long when one move gets ruined by someone being stronger than they are. Stupid newbie's work under "ifs", and basically, that is breaking the unwritten rule. Ifs are only assumptions, and so working with what they think might happen automatically guarantees their loss," Lyall explained with ease.

"Really? I don't think that's true. I used an if with you. If I could get you to participate with me in this tournament then we would win."

"That's different. They operate more on the 'if this guy has more experience,' then they work around that, hoping that they can make it to the challenger's level. Really though, they end up straining themselves while coming up with a plan to outsmart the higher level character. 'If we get the first move,' is the worst. Then they think too much about making the first move and the other guy gets 'em first, and *BOOM* there goes that plan." It was really easy to tell how the other players operated.

Luna thought for a moment. "That is how some people think..." She didn't want to make her friend mad especially since she was on thin ice with her all the time.

Nera sighed. This needed to be over now. "Let's go work our way up so we can beat that pansy ass."

"Hello PKers," the announcer bellowed out through the speaker. "We will now begin the prince and princess tournament. Which of these lovely teams will become the Prince and Princess." He pointed to the group of people standing on the fighting platform. "The first match will begin shortly." The teams were teleported to a waiting room.

"How long do we have to wait," Luna asked Lyall.

"Hopefully not long." Lyall glanced around at the other players and noticed a familiar face. "Oh god..." he mumbled, turning around. He saw Skyli, and of course, the girl Kusari helped. But Skyli...she really had to go against Pink Boy?

"Why'd you say oh god?"

"N-nothing," Lyall hid his face even more. He acted a little too suspicious.

"Look who's here!" Skyli ran over to them. "I believe I haven't met you," he told Luna. His pink outfit was still skin tight.

"I think he knows you Lyall," Luna said innocently. "Should I introduce myself?" She didn't really want to meet the pink guy, especially since his clothes were skin tight. It was creepy.

"Please introduce yourself," he said with a smile. "Oh, but I should introduce myself first. My name is Skyli," he extended a hand.

Luna stared at the hand. "Seriously, will I get a virus if I meet him," she playfully asked her prince.

Lyall didn't answer. It was best if he stayed silent about this guy; pretend that he had never seen Skyli in his entire life.

"Hey Lyall," Luna said a little bitterly.

"It's now time for the first match," the announcer cheered.

Luna and Lyall got warped to the battle area. Luna looked across and saw the pink guy from not a moment ago.

"We have to fight him, too?" Lyall bent forward. "Hey, he's a cleric...." Lyall grinned and chuckled. This time for sure his name would finally make it into the standings with Kusari's.

"Good luck beating us, princess," his partner, a tribal grappler, teased. This girl wouldn't live to see the rest of the tournament.

"Let the first match...," the announcer paused for dramatic tension.

Luna got into her fighting stance to prepare for the battle in front of them.

Lyall glared at Skyli. Take him down first and the rest would be easy.

Luna stood ready to fight next to Lyall waiting for the battle to start. The announcer shouted "Begin" and Luna shot out at the Tribal Grappler with a 3-strike move called Gale Blade. The attack was highly successful, dealing around 250 damage. This was easy. Both players were really low levels, only in their mid 20s. These noobs didn't stand a chance.

The Grappler tried to heal, but Luna didn't give her time. She took on rapid attacking while waiting for her skill meter to recharge. It quickly did so and when the Grappler's health was at 219 she, once again, unleashed the power of her Gale Blade.

Lyall, having been through situations like this out of the arena, thought it best to stay away from special attacks. He would, of course, charge his weapon. The only one left was the leader, Skyli. Now was the time for Nera to curse her brother to hell. "Oh no, not you again," Lyall drawled.

"Oh my gosh! Kusari promised I would get to fight you, but I didn't know he could actually keep the promise."

"Shut up and fight." Without another warning, Lyall lunged his entire body toward the annoying leader. One dose of charged duel blades and he was half finished. The end quickly came.

"It ain't going to be that easy," Skyli grinned. A nicely aimed punch landed right in Lyall's gut. He was still unharmed. "What?!"

"You are still levels below me. You also haven't had as much experience. And," Lyall brought the broadsword up, "you know my brother," and the broadsword came down. Easy as pie, Skyli's group didn't stand a chance. They were all down.

The battles continued pretty much the same way, barely getting longer and harder with each round. Luna took out her enemies using her Gale Blade and Whirlwind skills, the latter being used against stronger opponents. The only battle left now was the Finals.

Lyall's opponents would last no longer than a minute. The record time for someone in the arena against him was about 55 seconds. Special skills were useless and took more time. Mostly, he won by switching up weapons so much that no one could predict what move she would pull next. And thus, I am victorious, he thought. Nera smirked inwardly as she watched them go down, one by one. The finals would prove to be no threat to her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Prince and Princess Tournament finals," the announcer called. "Who will become the King and Queen? Will it be 'Team L'," he paused for dramatic effect. At first Luna didn't notice that 'Team L' is what the announcer was calling them, but it worked. Both characters had 'L' names. "Or 'Team 'Sinbad'," he finished.

"Well, well, well; if it isn't my cute little fangirl," Sinbad taunted.

"I am not your fangirl," Luna growled dangerously. Of course he would name the team after himself, she thought. The selfish bastard.

"And looky who else!" The female cleric sang.

"You'll get yours bitch," Lyall threatened back.

"Oh, my cute darling! It's adorable how you think you are capable of beating us." She smiled, swiping a chunk of blood red hair out of her face. Big honey-brown eyes shined deviously. "Can we make this interesting?"

"How so?" Lyall crossed his arms.

"Well, since we are going to win, when that happens, you become my darling fiancée." He was about to fight. She hastily continued. "But, benefit of the doubt, if by some miracle you win, then what would you want?"

"Cooperation in bringing the player Kusari down to where she belongs." There was no thought or effort into Nera's answer. "And to raise my name fairly."

"Fair enough, cutie." Dead Rose, the cleric, smiled and they seemed to inwardly shake on the deal. Lyall would kill faster than ever before.

"Let the match begin!"

Luna was actually smart this time and, instead of attacking with a skill right off the bat which probably would have resulted in a counterattack against her, took her time to charge at her enemy. Using her Sleep Needles she rapidly pelted the Cleric with simple combo moves hoping that she might make her fall asleep with a critical hit.

Dead Rose had plenty of spells to use and more health reserve than Luna. She stayed as a diversion, attacking back instead of going on defense.

Lyall growled low in his throat. "You are both going to die," he sprinted after Sinbad using a combo with the dual swords. They were fast. Once Sinbad got to a certain health, Lyall would switch the tactic. Hope Luna can get that bitch, he muttered in his mind.

Sinbad smirked. He knew they would try this strategy ahead of time so he created a counter strategy. He needed to get away from his attacker, but obviously that wouldn't work since he couldn't just leap out and attack him so he did the next best thing and attacked his princess. "Look out little fangirl," Sinbad snickered as he aimed his most powerful skill at Luna.

Luna was pelted with multiple bullets and bounced against the barrier that surrounded the arena.

Lyall, to put it simply, panicked inwardly. He managed to stay calm and think a strategy. He quickly used a healing spell with some of his potion stock. You have to beat her, Nera scorned. She switched early, rapidly using combos and regular attacks. She bet they had this one figured out as well.

Dead Rose smiled and went for Lyall, who had the perfect opening. Lyall was hit with a high level attack spell. Another hacked skill. He wouldn't fight back unfairly. Lyall struck her with a charged broadsword. "I am not going to be your fiancée, and there is no way that you could ever take down Luna," he said after the attack. She was closer to losing now. The one thing Lyall liked about clerics is that their health went down incredibly faster than any other type of character. Lyall waited for a quick sign from Luna.

Luna hopped up quickly. She didn't want to lose to these jerks and she really didn't want to look weak to Lyall. She wanted to get back at Sinbad for that attack so she switched her main weapon from Sleep Needles to Ripper's Blade, a duel sword she got from defeating a doppelganger. With this, whenever she landed a hit, she absorbed 25% of the damage as health which came in handy in this kind of battle. She didn't think she needed it, but it looked like this battle was going to be a lot tougher than she thought.

Lyall switched them into private chat. "Need a distraction so she stops healing Bastardondo over here. Can you do that until I get his health half?"

"As long as you keep him from shooting at me like that again. If he does then warn me or counterattack. We can't lose this battle! Although you probably already know that..."

Luna activated her strongest skill and attacked the Cleric, sending her into the barrier much like she had previously. "Take that freak!"

The diversion was the best payback. It was a good job for Luna. Lyall turned her attention to Sinbad, ready to take it up a notch. "A little more skill, Bastardondo," Lyall smirked, speeding up and using Death Scythe to knock down as much health points as possible. The private chat was on again. "Seal. Put a magic seal on her," Lyall commanded, going in for a charged attack. He was almost at the half way mark.

Dead Rose managed to survive with a little less than half her health. "You little bitch. I always knew it was the fangirls you have to watch out for," she mumbled more to herself. The plan was to heal herself, and she started to. Little by little her health went up, switching to give Sinbad a little here and there as well.

"You can't use items in arena battles," Luna answered simply. She had only one shot. Make Dead Rose fall asleep with her Sleep Needles. Zaira gulped as she made her character switch her weapon back to what she entered with and began the arguous (spelling?) task of trying to make her sleep. After a few hits it was successful, but it wouldn't last long. "We've got a small window for team attacks on Sinbad."

"Good. Let's work fast."

Dead Rose cursed them. "Sinbad, watch out. They got a plan."

"Luna, be unpredictable with the strongest attack you got. If we do this right, they'll be at the same health...maybe even less than a quarter of health left." She drew up her scythe, planning to switch right before the attack.

"Got it," she replied. She switched out her duel blades for her Wrath Wings broadsword; It would be best if she got multiple critical hits in this kind of situation. Luna activated her Twin Moon skill and sending her enemy into the air with an aerial attack and struck him three times before slamming him back to the ground.

Dead Rose was up in the air as soon as Sinbad fell to the ground. Lyall kept her off the ground as long as he could, but his combo ran out and she also hit the ground, immediately going into defense and healing. She was already too late. Lyall ran like a graceful wild animal over to Sinbad's position. Thanks to Luna's special aerial attacks, there was enough time to half his remaining health. "Little bastard pissed me off way too much," Lyall spoke to Sinbad. "I bet you are one in real life, as well," she threw out her broadsword, then used her twin blades, halving the health meter again. "Luna, get the rest. I'll handle the cleritch."

And Dead Rose actually still thought she and Sinbad had a winning chance against these amateurs. Well, her darling prince was about ready to go down. "Sinbad, we are losing," Dead Rose commented through gritted teeth.

Luna couldn't attack with another skill just yet because her skill bar was still charging, but she made effective use of her current weapon, hitting Sinbad with powerful strikes. As soon as the meter filled, which didn't take long, she used her Twin Moons attack to finish him off. With a scream mixed with the anguish of defeat and the all time favorite I-can't-believe-I-was-beat-by-a-girl curse, Sinbad was defeated. All that was left was the cleritch, as Lyall put it.

Dead Rose growled. "Well, well, aren't you two strong?"

"You wish," Lyall said, releasing her charged scythe attack. "One jackass down, and one cleritch down. One victory, as promised." That would teach them to mess with this team.

"This bout is over," the announcer called. The arena burst into life with roars of cheers and maybe a little 'boo'ing here and there.

Luna cheered with everyone else and resisted the urge to hug Lyall. She knew that if she did, he would never forgive her and she didn't want that to happen.

"Team L has won! The new prince of the arena is Lyall! The new princess of the arena is Luna!"

Both characters were teleported to the front desk and given their special prizes. Luna received the Shadow Lacuna. A one a kind item that can only be won from this tournament. Luna was officially in heaven. She had one of the most powerful twin blade weapons in existence. This twin blade had her favorite things. It had a shark tooth making the critical hit chances go up by 25%, an unobtainable item called Nare Fur, which gave her 25% extra experience and another unobtainable item called Kane Snake Skin, which gave her 25% extra GP. Yay for more money, she thought. And experience, she added.

Lyall's special scythe was similar, the only difference being poison instead of critical. It was, of course, a rare item, being only one of its kind. Even if he wanted to, there was no way a store would buy it off him. "Great, just something else I have to carry around with me," the newly dubbed prince sighed. That was another thing. The stupid title would be more than annoying, however, it would certainly help his reputation against Kusari.

Zaira stretched and looked at the clock. It was getting pretty late and she had to do her chores tomorrow so it was probably a good idea to call it quits before she pulled an all nighter. "Hey Lyall. I gotta go. I have to do a bunch of stuff tomorrow, but I'll see you at school on Monday." Luna waved good bye to her friend and prepared to log out. She wouldn't just yet. She wanted Lyall to say bye or acknowledge the fact that she was leaving.

Nerezza also glanced at the clock. She would be up for at least another four hours, if not, more. "Yeah, whatever," Lyall answered more playfully than usual. "Uh..." Nera thought about thanking her, but stopped. "Nevermind. See ya," Lyall said before logging out.

Luna smiled and logged out. She was quite satisfied with how the night turned out.

* * *

Kirity: Wahoo! Another chapter done...finally. Keep reading to find out what happens in the future. Oh! And review. We luffles reviews!

Wolfy: You should review because if you don't-

Lyall: You shall be killed with my Shadow Loba, of course.

Luna: And my Shadow Lacuna!

Kirity + Wolfy: Riiiight.

Wolfy: Just leave a review, please.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Zaira arrived early to school on Monday. She'd been in a good mood every since she and Rez won that tournament. She watched the door and waited for Rez to walk through. "I hope she had a good weekend," Zaira muttered to herself. "It'd be nice if she walked in with a smile on her face for a change."

Nerezza entered, muttering foul curse words under her breath. "Goddamn asses...they can't shut up." Everyone she had passed on the way here had been gossiping about the final tournament from "The World". As expected, five minutes and Nera wanted to shoot everyone.

"Morning Rez," Zaira greeted cheerfully. She looked at her friend as she came closer. "What's wrong? You look like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"All the talk of the stupid ass tournament...god, don't they shut up?" She fell into her seat.

"Really," Zaira asked excitedly. "We're the talk of the school, huh? I never thought that would happen. I knew the world was big and a lot of kids had it, but I didn't think this would happen. Ne, ne. What are they saying Rez?"

"Shut up! I would rather not have people know I'm a part of this." She smacked Zaira upside the head. "Idiot."

Zaira rubbed the back of her head and looked sad. "Why don't you want people to know that you are part of this," she whispered. "Don't you want people to know that you are an awesome player?"

"Hell no! That would be the worst nightmare!" She complained. Just thinking about it made her groan.

"But why? Isn't it nice to have people recognizing you for something?"

"I don't want to be recognized. Having people know...I hate popularity." Nera understood that it was going against her goal for "The World". It didn't matter, though. She would get something out of being popular in the world. Being popular in the real world was something totally different.

Zaira sighed. "Fine." She looked at Rez with serious eyes. "Please tell me what they're saying though. I couldn't care less if people found out that I was Luna and I respect your desire to stay unknown, but come, tell me what they're saying," she begged.

"Don't you know? They are saying it might end being as popular as the twilight myth."

That's what the entire game is about, stupid, Nera thought.

"Yeah, and the infamous Kusari claims to have trained the Prince! Oh, if only I could meet someone like that in real life," Lili, one of Nera's enemies, sighed. She took a seat next to them and rested her head in her hand, looking nostalgic for something of fairy tales that would never exist.

Be miserable forever cause this prince ain't looking for a princess, Nera laughed inwardly.

Zaira laughed at the girl. "Too bad he already has his princess Lili." She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to reveal her online identity so she would be somewhat obscure for now. "I hear she's pretty strong too." No harm in letting Luna's ego inflate a bit.

Nera scoffed. If this wasn't school, she would've yelled at Zaira. Just for that, she would definitely avoid eating anything given to her for about a month. It would be more than enough punishment for putting herself at a higher level than she actually was. "Or drop dead weak and only that stupid what's his face prince is the strength."

"I dunno. They were both pretty hard to beat, so I hear. The crowd thought it was going to end in a tie. Prince Lyall was too stubborn to let it end that way..." Lili sighed again, dreaming of what it would be like to live with her beloved prince of tales. "He was so strategic," she grinned.

Nerezza knew otherwise. There was no strategy to their actions. They played it by ear! None of that was planned, seeing as she was forced into joining the tournament. Maybe she would leave now and hide for the rest of the day. With Zaira around, it would be much easier for anyone to find out who created Prince Lyall. And that would ruin her reputation forever, if she had one.

For once, Zaira remained quiet. She slouched down in her chair and you could almost hear a low growl coming from her, but you couldn't tell if it was her or her stomach because of the way she was sitting. "She's not drop dead weak," Zaira murmured to herself.

Nera held back from commenting. Any act of knowing would be suspicious. "Yeah right. If I was her, I would've just taken him down in one strike." Not that Nera would know anything about that....or so she was trying to believe. She would quickly learn to become a pathological liar.

"Now that you mention it, those guys were pretty hard to take down. That jerk Sinbad is so ugly and rude...I bet not even Dead Rose enjoys his company! I've heard he chases after all the girls and likes to show off," Lili talked of the rumors she had read in a thread on the online forum.

Zaira felt the vein in her forehead to pop. "He is a dickweed. I met him once and he is the worst kind of person. He thinks every girl wants him when really every girl wants to kick his ass."

Mr. Reece tapped his foot annoyingly. "Excuse your language," he demanded Zaira. "Another outburst and you'll be in detention." Nera wanted so bad to be able to laugh in her face. Alas, she didn't have the right personality for it. The teacher walked to the front of the class room and hoped to start class soon.

Zaira mumbled something incoherent and took out a sheet of paper for notes. It was unlikely to be used for school, but they would still be notes nonetheless. An idea struck her and she wrote down 'Wanna hang out in the world later?' she folded the letter and lightly flopped it on Rez's desk.

The girl glared. It was as if the paper was planning to attack her or something. After much contemplation, Nerezza thought it safe to open. She read, glared harder, and replied, "No."

"Why not? We had a lot of fun last time."

Nera growled in frustration. "You're annoying," she answered back.

"What about the deal you have with your brother?" She didn't know what the deal was, but she was hoping it might help.

Nera rolled her eyes. "Did it without you before," she quickly answered.

"It's easier with me around though. It goes by much faster too, right?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. You drag me down."

Zaira made a choking sound. Rez didn't even try to sugarcoat it, she thought. "You could at least be a little nice to me." She smiled. "Seeing as you couldn't have gotten your latest weapon without me."

"It wouldn't have existed without me. That was something my brother brought in once he knew I was in the tournament," she almost growled again. Something else she would have to scold her brother for. It was his own rules that he wouldn't be allowed to butt in, only to come back with changing the rules to say that she wasn't allowed to ask him for help. But she still didn't want him helping her with her goal. It was dishonest and cheating.

"Fine," Zaira said with a huff. "I'll just hack and find you anyway."

"I won't accept you into my party. Doesn't matter if you hack. I hack better than you and you know that for a fact." She started learning ever since before she was born.

"I've never seen you hack before so, no, I don't know that you are better than me. For all we know, I could be better, though I usually don't do big hack jobs. I like to keep it simple."

Nera wouldn't explain anything she had done. Those stories would get complicated really quickly. "Like I said, you are annoying."

Zaira shrugged her off. It didn't matter what either of them said. They were both way too stubborn to quit so Zaira said, "Can we put a hold on this? I have to take notes. This will be on the test." She really didn't want to take notes, but she didn't want to get a detention for talking during class even more.

Zaira was the one who had started this argument, and Nera told her so.

Zaira scrolled through the rumor boards looking for something interesting. There were things about strange angel like chims which Zaira attributed to a glitch combined with a monster and some person's imagination. There was another rumor about something in Crimson VS, but she didn't care since she wasn't playing that stupid card game. One rumor finally stood out to her. It was about an area with exceptionally strong monsters that was really similar to the one she took on with Lyall. She figured that she could take out the monster on her own this time, especially with her new weapon, Shadow Lacuna. She smiled and entered the area words at the gate. First she would train a little bit and then she would take on the beast.

Nerezza had thought it best to stay away from "The World" today. But after the tournament would be the best time to become popular. She gave up and went to the library like usual to log in. She would just check up on what was going on now. That's all. Then it would be time to sign out. None of the new quests really appealed to her anyway. "Rumors.....," Lyall sighed.

"Nice job last time," the girl said.

"Bro....I thought I told you to stay out of everything?"

"I did. I only made suggestions to the organizers," Kusari smiled like it was something she should've already known. "And now, I'm only going to question the system a little." Before Lyall could properly asked Kusari what she meant, he was transported to a different area.

"Dammit, he did it again!!" He screamed. "Where the hell am I anyway?" Lyall would just wander around until he found somebody, or until he could figure out where he was and what was at the end.

"This thing is awesome," Luna shouted at nothing. She was referring to her new weapon of course. So much power in two compact blades, extra money, extra experience points, and she loved it. She easily took out all the enemies in the area and found the boss. "No sense in rushing things," she muttered to herself. For now, she would let her hp and sp bars fill up. It wouldn't take long since she didn't even loose health, but she did use a bit of her sp. Why waste an item, she thought.

Lyall followed the path, but every monster seemed to be destroyed, already. Recently, too, seeing as they hadn't had time to respawn at all. "I just want to know where the hell I am, but someone else is stealing the experience I could get," he muttered angrily.

Luna looked around the area from the hill she was standing on and recognized a character wandering toward her. "Lyall," she shouted happily. Because she could and felt like it, she hacked into the system and teleported herself in front of her friend. "Hi Lyall. I though you said you didn't want to play with me,' she asked with a smug smile and a quirked eyebrow.

Lyall jumped back. "Shit!" Of course she would be here. Stupid Kusari...she would be player killed soon. "Goddammit, that bitch!"

Luna's smile dropped. "I guess your not here by choice." Stupid Kusari, she added in thought. "Since your here, why not let me join your party and we can take down the boss together. You missed out on all the fun so far."

"No."

"Come on. We're both here so let's just do this together. Plus, it'll get more hype up about the prince and princess duo if someone sees us." She smiled, hoping that this might work.

"No," Lyall said sharply.

"Fine then, just log out if you don't want to play," Luna yelled. She was finally getting fed up with Lyall's attitude. If he didn't want help then she wouldn't give it to him.

"I can't," he answered. It was the same set up as before. Why couldn't he hack Kusari's hacks? This was the most annoying thing.

"Then go somewhere else...just get away from me..." Luna didn't want to say that, but the words just fell out of her mouth. She turned around and started walking away, toward the boss. If she finished up then she could leave and be Lyall free.

"Fine. Go have fun losing," Lyall smirked, taking a seat near the warp. "And once you're done, I can leave." That's all that she cared about.

Luna growled a fine and began to fight the boss. It didn't take long, only about thirty seconds. "Happy," she shouted. "Now leave!"

And Lyall tried. "I...still can't."

"Short mail Kusari or something. Tell him to let you leave."

"The stupid thing says he's offline!" Lyall growled. "Can you leave?"

"No. I'm here for a reason and I'm not leaving until I finish."

"Kukukukukukuku..." A small triangle shaped creature appeared inbetween the two. The laugh was scary weird. "I am the evil lord Podoboo! You have destroyed all of my precious monsters! Now my most...not you two again," it said as it slapped its forehead.

"You," Luna shouted. "This is just perfect!" She stomped up to the CPU. "Listen, buddy, I'm in a really foul mood so if you wouldn't mind just admit defeat already so I can leave and Lyall can leave me alone."

"How many times do we have to kill you while we are pissed to all hell?" Lyall said in a bored tone.

"We," Luna asked. "I believe you're the one who doesn't want to be a part of this? It's just me today Podablue."

"It's Podoboo!"

"Go ahead. Whoever wants to fight with either of you obviously have no place in 'The World'." Lyall sounded bored, again.

Luna sent Lyall a glare.

"What did you say?! You are both foolish! Dragonaut! Destroy them both!"

"Not this thing again."

"Have fun," Lyall sighed, taking a moment to walk away.

"I said both of you," Podoboo shouted shrilly. He created a battle area around both characters.

"Podoboo...you must be some kind of stupid. Now you have to fight both of us at once and we all know how it turned out last time." Luna shook her head.

Lyall turned on his heel, pausing. "Wait...I'm not fighting, remember? Or are you so weak that you really need my help to defeat him?"

"I'm not the one who set up the battle area. He is," Luna said as she pointed to Podoboo.

"You will both end here and now," he shouted.

"Oh shut up!"

Lyall pulled out his Shadow Loba and defeated the annoying thing with one blow. "Next time you will suffer," he said, sounding like a bloodthirsty murderer. The battle area came down, but he still couldn't warp anywhere. "Kusari, damn you!"

"Maybe if you just cooperated for a change, he might not do things like this to you," Luna said.

"Well, can you leave?"

Luna smirked. "I don't feel like it."

"Because you can't," Lyall matched her smirk.

"Why not?"

"Just a guess. That's why you aren't even trying." Lyall swirled his finger in the air.

"I'm not leaving because I want to piss you off, prince. I know I can leave. I'm not stupid."

"Well, excuse me, princess," Lyall spat. He stood on his feet an poked Luna's shoulder. "And if you truly want to let me leave you alone, then why don't you leave?!"

"Because now I want to piss you off," Luna said without backing down.

"It's not working. In fact, how about I kill you? That'll fix both our problems." Lyall set his hand on the Shadow Loba.

"That won't make you very popular. How will killing a sweet little girl who is only trying to help you gonna affect your popularity," Luna asked. She faked a gasp. "Oh yeah, you don't like popularity." She pulled out her Shadow Lacuna and prepared for a battle.

"Shut up. It's something I need."

Luna looked at her with a mix of anger and questioning. "Okay. In class you say you don't want to be popular and now you say you do?! Which is it Lyall?!"

"I'll only be popular in this crappy game for the sake of getting away. Being popular in real life is not an option because certain questions come up." He sat down again. "If you can't understand my reasoning's, then go somewhere else. After all, you are the one who started this whole mess."

"Me?!? How did I start this? This all happened because you being stubborn and mean!"

"Wow..." Lyall drawled. "You can't even remember forcing me to eat food, or joining my party to help me on Kusari's hacks. None of that I wanted you there for."

Luna blushed. "Well, sorry for caring," she shouted before leaving the area and logging out.

"Dammit!" Lyall kicked the ground. Well, she didn't log out of the game, but her library computer time was up and Nera got kicked off. Nera grabbed her bag and ran out to her usual place in the tree.

Zaira growled into her pillow. She was mad and depressed at the same time. More from the former. She felt like screaming, but she didn't want to wake up the neighbors. Maybe she would just sneak out and go clubbing. Yeah, right. She didn't like clubs. The music was too loud and the people were a little...eccentric. She ended up falling asleep only to wake up at midnight. She tried going back to sleep, but it was futile. She got up and logged into The World.

* * *

Kirity: Wow! We're whippin' out chapters like there's now tomorrow. Keep reading and leave a review!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Nerezza fell asleep in an upright position hiding in the tree. The morning dawned, telling her to hurry to school. The girl dragged herself down the path and unwillingly entered the classroom. To her happiness, Zaira wasn't there greeting her in a bubbly, energetic annoying happy voice. "Oh my gosh, Nerez," Lili bounced up.

"Not you again...not today, please," she sighed.

"But it's important! Did you hear, did you hear?" Nera shook her head. She wasn't one to hear. "It should matter to you."

"Like I said, I don't care. Rumors mean nothing." She sighed, trying to forget Lili existed.

"But this rumor is HUGE," she emphasized, making a big circle with her arms. "You see, Zaira's not in class and there was a rumor that came up early this morning-"

"Aiko," Kane shouted as he ran into the classroom. "Have you heard the rumors about Zaira?"

Nerezza's head snapped up. That guy...She hadn't seen him since like the first week of hanging out with Zaira. "Zaira? What's wrong," Lili questioned the best friend. Nera still couldn't care about rumors.

"People are saying that she got PKed! And now she isn't here! What if she's lying in a coma at her house? What if she got hit by that doll syndrome thing?" Kane was in full on panic mode.

"Calm down, lover boy," Nera spoke. "Who cares if she got PKed? She deserves it after acting like a bitch."

"What are you guys talking about? The rumors said that Princess Luna was PKed," Lili glanced between the two.

"I'm not a lover boy! And you should care that she got PKed! I don't even think it's possible for her to be a bitch."

"Shut up, you are, and you know you are. And why should I care? She got mad at me because she wouldn't leave. I was gonna PK her myself, but looks like someone else did it for me, and if I ever meet that person, I will thank them and befriend them." Nera smiled.

"Come on guys," Lili complained.

"You've been rude to her from day one and all she was doing was being nice and trying to get along with you! You're a selfish person Aiko and I hope Zaira realizes that you're not worth all the trouble."

"You're the Aiko from the boards?"

"You weren't there, KITCAT." Nera took a seat on top of her desk. "I'm glad she was so rude to someone else. I would've PKed her for the very fact that she was being nice when I didn't even want to talk to her. If you are so worried, go check on her yourself."

"She doesn't normally let boys into her house. She's not allowed to have anyone in her house actually. And even if I could, if she was in a coma, she couldn't very well answer the door for me," Kane growled. "AND DONT CALL ME KITCAT! And if she was being so nice, then why don't you like her?"

"I don't do nice people." Nera yelled in a small whisper. "And just sneak in to her house. Can't be that hard."

"You do know that she has a very protective Doberman, right?"

"If you are really that worried, you would get past the Doberman, but since your fear is stronger than your worry, I guess you really don't care all that much about whether she is in a coma or not," Nera stated, knowing she made a good argument.

"If her dog is going wild when I get there then she's probably in a coma. If not, then she's not in a coma, but I can't get inside to see what's wrong anyway...Don't you even care?"

"I already told you that I was about to PK her myself. What makes you think I, of all people, would give a crap?" By now, Lili had long since given up, and decided it best to sit down...on the other side of the classroom. After all, they were loud enough for the room at the end of the hall to hear. Well, Kane was anyway. Nerezza kept the same, bored tone almost the entire time.

"Why? Why are you so cruel to her?" Kane lowered his voice a bit. "She's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and you don't even give a damn. Since day one she was curious about you because you did something to her. You glared. You might think it was all her fault, but with that glare, the one you gave her without even meeting her, you started all of this."

"What the hell did I start with a glare," she eyed him directly, looking for a well thought out answer. Nera didn't find one on his face and her memory failed to pick out the reason why it would be her fault.

"On the very first day of school, you gave her a glare for no apparent reason and because of that glare, she took a heavy interest in you. You just had the luck of her liking you."

"Oh yeah, cause that makes tons of sense," she rolled her eyes. She couldn't even begin to fathom why glaring at someone would compel that person to take a liking to the one who glared. In all realism, Zaira should have wanted to stay as far away from her as possible. "Just go and face that blood thirsty dog if you are worried, like I stated, I couldn't care less about it."

"I can't. I have to pick up my brother." Kane paused. "But you can!"

She scoffed. "No thank you," she told him straight out.

"Why not? It's probably your fault she's like that anyway."

"Go ahead and blame it on me. If that's what will let you sleep at night, by all means. I. Don't. Care." Nera emphasized one more time.

"Come on. Just go check real quick after school. You don't even have to walk on her lawn. If her dog isn't going crazy then she's fine, if he is, then she's in trouble. Just check for me please," he begged.

"No," she still disagreed.

"It'll take two seconds," he continued to beg.

"Good for you. You'll have time to pick up your sister at the same time," she argued.

"I have a brother not a sister," Kane said with an obviously annoyed tone.

"Whatever, same thing." Nerezza turned to her desk. She had already given him her answer several different ways. If he said one more word, she was gone.

"Bitch," he said in a low voice.

Nerezza smiled daggers out of her eyes. "I'll go do it now," she smirked, picking her bag up.

Kane took a few steps back to get out of the obviously enraged girl's way.

She was grateful that he at least knew that she was angry. "Have fun with your brother, lover boy," Nera commented before walking out the door.

Lili glanced over at Kane. "Uh...so Zaira, huh?"

Kane blinked. "Who are you?"

"Uh...Name's Lili Marquise, kind of an acquaintance of hers..."

"I highly doubt that," Kane said in disbelief.

"Why is that?" She questioned.

"Because she hates everyone," Kane said simply.

"Zaira doesn't hate everyone. And I've known Nerezza for awhile, and she doesn't really hate me," Lili told him.

"I wasn't talking about Zaira, she only hates stupid people," like you, he added in thought. "And Nerezza does hate you, really, you're just in denial."

"I don't quite believe you," Lili crossed her arms over her chest. "It's them who are in denial if you ask me."

"Why are you even here?"

"Um...I'm in this class? Duh!" She rolled her eyes. Only an idiot wouldn't be able to get to that conclusion.

"Really? I thought you were here to flirt with Aiko."

"Me? I'm sorry, but I don't swing that way," she corrected him, leaning back as far as one could in those stupid school chairs. "Why would you even think that I would want to flirt with someone like her anyway?"

Kane thought for a second. He would be killed twice if he revealed Aiko's secret. First Aiko would kill him then Zaira would resurrect him and kill him again. Neither of them would get caught if they did it too. Thoughts of how they might kill him make him squirm. "No reason," he finally decided to say.

"Uh-huh," she curiously darted her eyes past him. "So, you wanna check it out after school or something?"

"Check what out?"

"Um..Zaira?" Lili said, getting quite annoyed with the boy. He was definitely not even close to prince material. Maybe she was better off daydreaming about Lyall instead of trying to converse with real boys. But there was still Zaira, and she didn't have any clue where the girl lived so she would have to suffer being in Kane's presence if she really wanted to make sure Zaira wasn't a coma victim. "We're both worried for her, after all."

"Why do you care?" Kane shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I have to pick my little brother up after school so I can't go. That was the entire reason I came here to talk to Aiko."

"Um...well...I guess I care because..." Now that she thought about it, there was no real reason for her to go and check up on Zaira alone. "She's friends with Nerezza. Isn't that enough to care?" Maybe that wasn't good enough. "Because she is one of our classmates that I happen to know enough about that I would save her life before my own." Even with how corny and rehearsed it sounded, Lili meant what she said. "But I don't know her well enough to go by myself." It would be all or nothing now. "Would it be possible to take your brother along. I could come with you to pick him up and-and go from there, or...what you think is best," she finally shut herself up, embarrassed for speaking her heart against her beloved prince of "The World".

"Naw," Kane drawled. "It'd be faster if you just went home and logged into 'The World'." He paused. "Who's Nerezza?"

The look of shock came over Lili's otherwise composed face. "You were just talking to her about your best friend and you didn't even know her name?" She slumped into her seat. "Unbelievable," she sighed.

"She is not my best friend. Zaira is my best friend!"

She would've given anything to smash her head into a wall. "I said that you were talking to her about your best friend. Gorram idiot," she said hopefully clearer than before.

Kane gave her a questioning look. "What's a Gorram?"

What's a gorram, she sighed to herself. "Never mind." She never knew he was this stupid, but then again, she didn't really know him. "Anyway, Nerezza is anti-social girl, the one that just walked out, the one you were asking to check on Zaira? Get it?" She flicked his forehead.

"Yeah...So what?"

* * *

A/N: Kane is an idiot isn't he everybody…


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Nerezza took off of the campus, not even caring about the security "securing" the area, making sure no one skipped their classes. After everything she said, refusing to go check in on Zaira, she ended up at the girl's house. "Damn," she loudly swore, kicking a near-by fence. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid," she repeated. "Hey Zai," Nera forced herself to yell. She was only doing this because there was nothing else to do.

The house was silent.

"Okay! Bye," Nera yelled, pretending to leave. In actuality, she meant to leave.

The house remained quiet. Not even a mouse was stirring.

"Tsk..." Nera had absolutely nothing else to do. She didn't think for one moment that anything bad had happened to Zaira. "Bitch, answer me when I am calling you!" She ran and kicked the door open. It was time to wait. Again.

A dog's muffled barking could be heard upstairs. There was a thud and some cursing. A girl followed by a fierce looking Doberman jumped down the stairs. She stared for a moment. "Why the hell did you break me door?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Nerezza said sarcastically. "I just get a little bit pissed when people don't answer me when I know for damn sure they can. Did I say that clear enough?" She even addressed her opinion to the dog, staring it down.

Zaira rubbed her eyes. She had heavy bags set underneath them. "What are you doing here," she asked with a yawn.

"Right. Got what I needed. Bye," Nera coldly stated, turning around and planning to leave.

"Wait, wait." Zaira took a step forward and tripped. She picked her head up and rubbed her nose. "Ow...What'd you come here for?"

"I got paid to come and see if you were alive," she lied.

"Yeah right. I bet you were really worried about me," Zaira said with a smirk. She used her arms to keep her head up so that she wouldn't fall asleep, but it wasn't helping.

"Think that. Bye," she repeated.

"WAIT," Zaira shouted. "What time is it," she asked hurriedly. "Oh my god! I'm going to be late for school!"

"Yeah...have fun getting there on time. Your boyfriend will kill you. See ya," she was getting annoyed of saying goodbye. She left. If Amadi wanted to talk to her that bad, she could just follow.

Zaira sat up and grumbled something. She turned to Zen. "I guess it would be safe to say I should call in sick." The dog growled. "I know it's not right, but honestly, do you want the school to call dad?" The dog stared at her before giving a huff of agreement. "Good. Remind me to do it later." Zaira jumped up and stumbled about. "Forgot about sleep." She shrugged her shoulders and ran after Nerezza. "Hold on! Why don't you stay for a snack?"

"I don't eat," she coldly reminded the girl.

Zaira smiled cheerfully. "You ate the lunch I made that one time," she reminded back.

"And I threw it," Nerezza continued.

"But you had cake that one time," Zaira pointed out.

"Because you forced me. And do you remember what happened?" She made the gesture of falling off the roof.

Zaira put her hands on her hips. "That wasn't my fault. You jumped."

"It was. You are just in denial. Nothing unusual there."

"How was it my fault? I gave you cake and you jumped off a building! What sense does that make?"

"Makes you the idiot," she finished.

Zaira's face turned red in both embarrassment and anger. "How does that make me an idiot? I was only being nice."

"In your mind," she scoffed.

"That doesn't make me an idiot," Zaira argued. "It makes me caring."

"Selfish."

"Because I like helping other people, I'm selfish," Zaira asked. Zaira made a face. "I don't understand you Rez. You eat my cake, say it tastes good then you tell me you don't eat. You sleep outside and I'm sure if I invited you to sleep in my guest bedroom you would refuse. Why? Why won't you accept my help?"

"I don't like people," plain and simple. Why couldn't anyone understand that concept?

"That's fine. Hate people. But just so you know, I am not people. I am a single person."

"I hate single persons, too," she clarified.

"Damnit! I told you! Not plural! Singular! SINGULAR! A person, not persons! NO S," Zaira ranted. Why couldn't Rez just understand?

Nerezza sped around. "I hate YOU," Nera pointedly told her. "I think you can understand that just fine, I would hope."

"Give me one legitimate reason as to why you hate me and if I fail to defend myself properly then I will leave you alone forever." Damn! Zaira could be really smart when she didn't sleep. Why doesn't she do that more often?

"Because your annoyance made me want to commit suicide. What more reason do you need?"

"What annoyance? If you're talking about the first day of school, then it's your fault for glaring at me. If you hadn't done that you would be like everybody else to me. Just another person in my class."

"I wouldn't've glared at you if you weren't in that class," she retorted.

"That doesn't make any sense? Being in your class...I didn't assign myself there. Why are you blaming innocent people? Blame the ones that made you into such a bitch, not the ones trying to be nice!" Zaira stood firmly by what she just said. She read Rez's diary and knew the kind of person she was. Zaira didn't want to read how Rez felt from the diary, even though she did write extensively well about them. She wanted to hear Rez tell her how she felt. At this rate however, it wasn't going to happen.

Nerezza harshly poked Zaira's shoulder. "I'm the bitch? I made myself this way for a reason. It's not like I had a choice." She complained, forcing herself to stop talking before anything else was said. Thoughts raced through her mind, everything of why she felt the need to act this way, constantly pushing people away, leaving the distance between her and anyone that talked to her. If only she could be normal and tell people what her thoughts were, maybe this wouldn't happen every time.

Nera sighed, turning back around and resuming her walk. "Just go tend to your dog or something..."

Zaira roughly grabbed Nerezza's wrist. "You do have a choice," she said firmly. She let go of the other girls' wrist and walked inside. "Come on Zen," she beckoned the dog. It barked and followed her inside. She turned around to slam the door only to find it on the ground. She went into the kitchen and moved a chair in front of it. It was better than nothing for now, at least until she fixed it.

Nerezza stood frozen for a moment. She didn't have a choice. How else would she deal with all the crap others dealt to her? The only way to ignore them, make sure they didn't find out how weird she could really be. The truth of her family would get around; rumors would start and if she didn't keep everyone away, things would have gone down fast. They would have ended up hating her anyway. "Damn bitch," she swore loudly towards Zaira's house. Thinking like this was way too much at the moment.

Zaira poked her head through the door. "Stop talking about yourself like that. People will start staring," she said calmly. All of the nice she had earlier had completely drained from her body. Too bad for her, her guilt hadn't. She felt bad for making Rez so mad.

"Better hope that door gets fixed soon," she said, leaving the situation and heading for the library. Now she had to win the deal with her brother. It was the only way for her to safely get out of the area.

Safe? Why did she care? She would be safe, anyway. Then it was decided. She would play The World as much as time would allow her and then leave to travel somewhere far off. So Nerezza entered The World, wising to whatever that she would be able to play alone.

Zaira stuck her tongue out at the girl even though she wouldn't see. She put her hands on her hips and looked at the damage. It wasn't too bad. She could easily fix it without anybody finding out. She gathered all of the materials she needed and managed to fix it in only a half hour, with the help of her loyal friend, Zen.

Zen yawned and Zaira stared at him. "Go take a nap if you're so tired." He made a few whining noises and Zaira got the hint. "Fine," she mumbled. Together they went upstairs and Zaira logged into The World. "I still don't see why I have to apologize." Zen made a grunting huff of disapproval. "I'm going, I'm going."

Luna appeared on her computer screen and she stretched out. "Now to find Lyall." She looked up her player address and found that she was busy, but her brother was free. "I think I'll talk to him first." She sent him a short mail telling him to meet her at 'Hidden Forbidden Dead Wood' before heading there herself.

The girl accepted and appeared in no time at all. Kusari teleported into the area and glanced around for the crowned princess. "Luna," she sweetly called out.

Luna stood in front of the dead, white tree with her arms crossed. A sad expression adorned her face. "Over here Kusari," she answered quietly.

She followed the whisper and immediately placed her soft hands on Luna's shoulders. "You look sad. Are you alright," Kusari curiously asked, making sure her fellow companion would survive whatever turmoil had/is/going to happen.

"Your sister and I had a stupid fight and now she's mad at me. What should I do Kusari?" Luna looked at her with sad eyes. She hadn't wanted to pick a fight with her. She also didn't want to blame her troubles on her lack of sleep. It was all her fault. She made Rez mad.

The thought of forcing Lyall to transport here ran through his mind for only a split second. Perhaps that wasn't the best idea, though. The girl sighed, hands on her hips. "What is it now?"

"Well, I was absent from school today...apparently...because I stayed up all night and then Rez came over to check on me. I kind of joked about it and she got mad and left. That's when I noticed that she had broken down my door, so I got mad at her about that. And then we fought about me giving her food and how she didn't eat, but liked it anyway. And then we argued about the first day of school glare incident and things just got way out of hand," Luna explained rapidly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there, hon. Slow down," Kusari said, cupping Luna's cheek in her hand. "How did it end," she would be able to tell more from the outcome of the fight rather than from the actual fight itself.

"She said she hated me and said that she didn't have a choice about being the way she was. I told her that she did and then slammed a chair in the doorway of my house."

"A...chair," Kusari blankly re-stated. She couldn't help a small grin creeping upon her glossed lips. "Well...Sounds like things became a bit too personal for her taste." There were many possibilities as to what the "choice" was referring to. "Were there any indications of specifics? Like, an incident, besides the food thing, of course," Kusari wondered.

"No. She just said that she didn't like people and when I corrected her she got even madder and said that she hated me."

"Okay," Kusari began, "Here's how it goes. My stupid sister is in denial. She knows she needs someone, and understands that it would most likely be you. Her experience with these situations...Well, it's not great, I can tell you that." The girl pulled on her Lolita skirt and gracefully took a seat on the ground. "There is more to it than most understand."

"I just want to know why she has such a problem with trusting me." Luna sat down next to Kusari.

Kusari laid the girl onto her shoulder, petting her hair. "She even has trouble trusting me sometimes." Her eyes went wide, fist smashing into the palm of her hand. "I got it!"

Luna leaned away quickly so that she wouldn't actually get hit. "What is it," she asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"It's bloody brilliant. Don't know why we never thought of it before." Kusari smiled and faced Luna. "Track her down in the world, or reality, and just ask her what she wants to do, instead of asking to drag her around! She might appreciate that."

Luna pouted. "If she were to actually answer the question I would, but I highly doubt that." Ignoring what she herself had said, she sent a message to Lyall, 'What do you want to do?'

Lyall notice the message, however, she chose to ignore it for a bit. Something struck her as odd for a moment. It would be good to at least give the message a quick scan. She quickly read the question, taken aback. No, she wouldn't answer. This was another set-up. She would wait before sending any kind of reply.

Luna sighed. "See, she didn't answer Kuri."

Kusari sent Lyall a rather rude and threatening message.

Lyall answered the call right away, showing up in the area. "I knew this was bad. I'd rather not to talk to either of you, let alone both at once. I hope this is something important, princess," he spat like poison.

"The poor girl just wanted to know if you had anything in mind for 'The World', Lyall, yeah?"

"Certainly nothing to do with you two."

Luna stayed quiet and stared at the dead tree. Lyall was mad at her and she didn't want him to be worse.

"Oi," Lyall nudged her with the toe of his shoe. "You can only send me messages, but afraid to talk to me in person?"

"But you're mad at me. I don't want you to get even madder."

"That didn't keep you before." Lyall would leave if there was nothing important going on here.

"But this time you're really mad," Luna stressed.

"Fine. Don't talk." Lyall transported out, deciding it best to go defeat monsters on his own.

"See! She's mad at me."'

"You didn't talk to her," Kusari stated the obvious.

"That's because she gets mad every time I open my mouth and make noise."

"You called to her. That's what gets her annoyed even more."

"I asked her what she wanted to do, but she didn't answer. She confuses me so bad."

"Well, you can't send her messages for the rest of your life. Go find her and apologize." Kusari received a summons. "I have previous obligations." Kusari transported out and left Luna to think alone.

"Kuri," Luna cried out. "To hack or not to hack...am I asking myself that question again? Gee, you'd think the answer was obvious by now," she told herself. She cracked her knuckles and began hacking away. Lyall was in a dungeon area, not too unusual when you think about the person behind the character. Luna teleported there instantly, but she still had to find him. 'What floor are you on?' She asked him through message. After not getting a response she sent him another message saying, 'I want to tell you something, but I refuse to say it over message. Please tell me where I can find you.'

Lyall finished killing a monster a few levels above his. He sent a message saying he was on the third floor, almost near the end of the dungeon.

'Thank you' Luna sent back as she happily hacked her way to the beast temple which in retrospect, she probably should have just done anyway. At least this way Lyall knew she was coming.

"What is it?" Lyall asked, emotionless and distant.

Luna blushed a little bit. "I'm sorry. Um...about everything I mean."

"Yeah, so?" Lyall crossed her arms.

Luna blushed. Why am I blushing? She's being rude, I should be getting mad. "I just wanted to make sure you knew that. And...And I want to help you with the deal you have with your brother. I know you don't like people and you really don't like me, but you really want whatever it is your brother is offering you so I want to help. You don't have to tell me what the deal is; just tell me what you want me to do," she finished firmly.

"I've already said that I need to be more popular than that bitch. That's what I need. The only thing that you could have helped me with in getting to the point has already happened, and you were my partner for that. I am the crowned prince, but it seems that isn't enough. I doubt you can do anything. Most people didn't even know who you were until that tournament. I don't see why you would be helpful now." Lyall put some distance between them. "And stop goddamn blushing..." Lyall's cheeks suddenly turned a light shade of pink. He turned his head and pretended she wasn't there.

The blush grew and she turned so that Lyall couldn't see her. "Sorry," she apologized yet again. An idea struck her. "What if we fought in the arenas together more often? You could get a lot of fangirls that way. You'll be a hit!"

"I don't want fangirls. Nor do I wish to have fanboys." Lyall cleared his throat. "But, uh...I guess I'll be more popular if I travel with the princess," he awkwardly stated aloud.

Luna smiled happily. "You need to get popular? I can definitely help with that."

Oh great, Nerezza thought. "Whatever...," Lyall grumbled and continued on to the treasure chest in the beast temple. As always, nothing worthwhile was given to her.

"So how have you been accomplishing your popularity so far?"

"Being one of the highest levels in the game? People see me and ignore. I thought that was doing the job."

"Being one of the highest levels in the game? People see me and ignore. I thought that was doing the job."

"A what?" Lyall asked, raising his eyebrows. He had never heard of anything close to that.

"A hunter's license. In Mac Anu there is a little NPC called Dingo. After you complete a mission for him you get a hunter's license. This records how often you help other players, usually new ones, fight in battle when they are overwhelmed. It also records how many PKs you kill. He even gives you a list of dangerous PKs. I already have one because Kane wanted to get his. I'll help you get one if you want," Luna offered.

"Is this required?" He said with annoyance.

"It would make you more popular. Players like having someone strong they can rely on to get them out a pinch with monsters. The same goes for PKs. What people really love is a PKK. I promise you will become way more popular within a week of doing it, maybe even less."

Nerezza had a minute left on the library computer. "Shit," Lyall swore. "Gonna get kicked off." She logged off and left the library.

Luna looked sad when Lyall left. "Oh well. I'll ask her what happened tomorrow. No sense in jumping to conclusions and getting him mad at me again." Luna paused for a second. "I need to stop talking to myself out loud." With that she longed out. She deserved a good rest. After all, she hadn't slept in two days.

Somewhere hidden in the darkness of the dungeon a figure stepped out of the shadows. He smirked an evil smirk. "Soon Lyall, you'll get what you have coming to you."

* * *

A/N: Kirity: dun dun dun~! A new enemy has emerged.

Wolfy: Lyall/Nera aris changing and I have no idea what will happen in the future? ^.^ Not sure...But this "dark figure from the shadows" definitely sounds intense...*rolls eyes*

Kirity: Does this seem somewhat cliché? …yes it does, but I think it is in a good way. Whatever. Keep reading and we love getting reviews.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Nerezza shivered and sneezed. Someone must have been talking about her. The same path to the forest didn't seem as adventurous. Suddenly, something was missing. She kicked the dirt, trying to identify what it was attacking the back of her mind, nagging and nagging until she named it. The name hadn't come to her, yet. She stopped.

Damn.

The girl turned the other way and her feet shuffled her all the way to Zaira's place, the door fixed and perfectly shut. She knocked on the house itself, having a problem knocking on doors, and for some reason hoping that it would be loud enough to be heard. Just for good measure, she yelled, "Zaira!" Maybe it was getting late to do this. Sighing, Nera shuffled down the stairs.

Zaira blundered down the stairs and opened the door. She knew she heard her name being shouted even though there was no knock on the door. Once she saw Rez she playfully asked, "Who is it?"

"No one," she attempted to disguise her voice.

"Give up," Zaira chuckled. "I already know it's you Rez. Come on in. You can sleep in the spare bedroom."

Nerezza let out a low growl. But it didn't come from her throat. She noticed it was focused in the stomach. "Uh...whatever," she blushed, not wanting anyone to notice her lack of eating.

Zaira smiled. She heard that. "Let's have snack before bed. How does pie and ice cream sound?"

Just the talk of food was enough to make her heave. "I don't eat," she argued, as always.

"And that is why your stomach growls. Would it help if I told you that it was cherry pie?"

The mention of the pie widened her eyes a smidgen. "Why would that help," she asked, voice wavering.

"It just would. Now, get your butt inside before it freezes out here," Zaira ordered playfully. She hoped the girl didn't take it personally and get mad again.

She begrudgingly agreed, silently following Zaira inside.

Zaira cheered on the inside, but only smiled on the outside. She didn't want to ruin this. She closed the door and ran into the kitchen, pulling out a plate, a fork and spoon, and one of those weird looking knives designed to cut pie and scoop it out. She cut off a good sized piece and scooped at a good amount of ice cream and set it on the side. "I just ate dinner so you'll have to forgive me for not enjoying this with you," Zaira said as she placed the plate in front of her hungry friend.

The serving size was quite large. "Um..." Her legs started to bounce up and down. "Could you take some of this back? I won't eat it," she tried to get away from eating.

Zaira rolled her eyes and got herself a fork. "Why don't we just share? I think I might be able to fatten myself up a little more." She looked over at her dog, who was asleep in front of the door. As soon as they went upstairs he would surely follow. He always slept at the top of the stair case. He was an excellent guard dog indeed. "Do you want some Zen?" He looked up and shook his head as if he actually understood. "Alright. Your loss," she said happily as she took a bit.

Nerezza went as far as to pick up the fork. "Do I have to?"

"It tastes delicious," Zaira sang.

She didn't want to eat. Cherry pie would only make her gain weight anyway. What was the point in eating if it didn't stay there forever? "I don't want any..." The fork was placed perfectly back on the table.

"If you are worried about gaining weight or something, you won't. With the way you live you should be eating four or five meals a day. I'm surprised you aren't any skinnier actually," Zaira admitted as she took another bite. A light shade of pink covered her face. She wasn't embarrassed or anything like that. The pie was just that good.

"If you are worried about gaining weight or something, you won't. With the way you live you should be eating four or five meals a day. I'm surprised you aren't any skinnier actually," Zaira admitted as she took another bite. A light shade of pink covered her face. She wasn't embarrassed or anything like that. The pie was just that good.

Zaira nodded happily. "I don't trust other people to make sweets for me. They always taste so bland. Wanna know my secret to good tasting food?"

"I don't care about food. Have you forgotten already?"

"No," Zaira pouted. "It was just something natural to say for me."

"Like always," Nera said, already falling into the routine trap.

"Sorry," Zaira muttered quietly as she picked at the pie.

Nera stole another crumb, not stopping until half of it was gone. Cherry pie was more delicious than she remembered. Then again, the last time she had it was when she was an infant. It was a miracle she even remembered she liked cherry pie.

"How come you don't like food Rez," Zaira asked somewhat distractedly. She was trying not to pry, but she couldn't help her natural curiosity.

The question took her by surprise. "Um...it's just...seems useless," she mumbled, shrugging her shoulders.

"Food serves as the power source of the body. Think of your body as a computer and the food as your power supply. If you don't have it plugged in and turned on then you have no power. I wouldn't exactly call food useless," Zaira replied calmly.

"Food isn't important to me."

"You don't make a very good computer," Zaira sighed.

"I could," Nera argued. She can be emotionless like one, and store data.

"If you have no power, then you won't work and that makes you a very horrible computer," Zaira said matter-of-factly as she finished off the last of the pie and ice cream. She wasn't trying to be mean, but when it came to computers, computer programs and their performance, effectiveness and usefulness she didn't go easy on them.

"Maybe it would be better if I was a computer," Nerezza told herself more than Zaira.

"No it wouldn't. You make a bad computer, but I bet you make an awesome person. All you have to do is open up," Zaira said. She stood up and ran some hot water in the sink. She added some soap and quickly washed the dishes before drying them and putting them away.

The girl sat frozen in the chair, head down and staring at the suddenly fascinating table. "I've heard."

Zaira smiled sweetly. "The good thing about opening up is that you can do it at your own pace. If someone keeps hounding you to open up then tell them that you're not ready, but someday you might, or even just the first part. That way, they will stop and you can take your time."

The comment made her giggle. "Then I'm not ready," she stated, using Zaira's own words to fight.

Zaira smiled and then pretended to pout. "I knew you were going to say that."

"Then don't give me words," she kind of enjoyed being predictable for once. Not many people could read her like that, or didn't want to. However, the action was something of predictability.

"I can't help it. You know better than any one that my mouth works faster than my brain and even if my brain could keep up, I don't have that little filter that stops me from saying something stupid."

"How would I know that better than others?" It wasn't like she actually knew the girl that well.

"Oh come on. I bug you all the time. Plus, Kane's too stupid to notice," she said blandly.

"Like I'm much smarter," Nera said full with sarcasm.

"Trust me, you are way~ smarter. His little brother is smarter than he is and he can't even say a full sentence properly." She shook her head. It was pathetic really.

"Well...Is this where I am supposed to say thank you?"

"I guess you could, but maybe you shouldn't. Take it as a gimme because I am probably going to annoy and or piss you off again in the future. Now! Let's get ready for bed," she said happily.

"Um...I d-don't really sleep much." Nera very much disliked sleeping in someone else's house.

"Come on. You can take my bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"I don't like beds." The concrete would be more comfortable then Zaira's bed.

"Fine," Zaira sighed. "But you have to at least sleep on a blanket...with a pillow and everything," she added with a smile.

"You have trees in the back?" This would also be obvious as to what she was on about.

"You are so not sleeping outside. You need to sleep inside for a change."

"I'll go look for myself." She stood up and blindly found her way to the back. There weren't many trees, at least ones she would deem comfortable. The grass would just have to do. "It's fine."

Zaira stomped after her. "Sleep inside damnit," she yelled. She wasn't really angry. It was more like she was pouting very loudly.

"What if I don't like to sleep inside?" It was a valid argument from her point.

"Just shut up and sleep with me," Zaira shouted quite loudly.

Nerezza froze. Those words didn't think what she thought they meant. It just sounded like they did. "I would if you weren't so loud!" She shouted back.

Zaira blushed after hearing what Nerezza's answer was. Zaira doesn't have that filter telling her not to say certain things, but that only meant that she would always speak her mind. She knew this logic of herself well and was confused. If she said 'Just shut up and sleep with me' ...did she mean it?

It could have been a slip of words, but Zaira hadn't done that since she was a child. Her dad beat that our of her quick after her mom died. He had been so strict about everything and he taught her to always speak her mind even if it offended or angered people. That's why she was usually apologizing. Teachers had been at a loss about what to do with her when she was younger and other kids cried just because she talked with them. When he got a promotion things became better for her. She felt that she was free in some ways, but she still felt like something was holding on to her with all its might, not letting go and preparing for the kill.

Zaira shook her head, pulling herself out of her thoughts. Thinking about the past would not help the situation right now. "Maybe if you wouldn't walk away so fast, I wouldn't have to yell out to you."

"Maybe if you listened to me, this wouldn't even happen." Nera couldn't stress that point enough. Had Zaira ever slept outside? The girl didn't have the right to demand something of someone else unless there was accurate experience involved. No one ever wanted to see things from her side.

"Listen," Zaira began at a normal voice level. "I know you sleep outside a lot, but I want you to feel something other than the grass or tree for a bed, pillow, and blanket. You're probably thinking that I don't know what it's like to be you and you're right, I don't. I want to, but you refuse to tell me so I want to share with you how I feel. When you understand someone better, they tend to open up to you. Then a relationship blossoms," she added happily. "I read that in a psychology book I picked up at the library the other day."

Sadly, Zaira didn't understand most of it. She just figured out what the part she just said meant. She's the type of person who needs to experience things to learn about them. A book can't teach her as well as an action. Her father taught her this as well. It was a lesson she would never forget.

"Why? I don't see the point in a bed. Wasting more money when nature gives it to you for free."

But there was a different side to it, a piece she was so easily overlooking. Someone genuinely wanted to know more about her, and not just for the fun of it. Rumors wouldn't fly and she wouldn't be picked on for living differently then others. Then again, she didn't quite see the point in wanting to get know someone, either. In fact, it was hard for her to understand any point in living, or anything having to do with the world and the way people lived.

"Since it's not your money, you shouldn't care," Zaira said a little aggravated. "I'm offering you my food, my house, pretty much everything I have...except Zen's unconditional love, sorry, but that is all mine. Try seeing things from my point of view."

"I don't want the love of someone else's pet." She didn't want anyone's love, at all. "Tell me one good reason why I should try to see it from your point of view."

"Because you want me to see things from your point of view," Zaira said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"But you don't. I could care less whether you want to see it from my point or not."

"Don't put words in my mouth," Zaira growled dangerously. "You won't tell me about yourself so it's impossible for me to even see a glimmer of something in your point of view. You don't say how you honestly feel and so I can't do anything."

"Fine! Goddamnit! I'll sleep with you, but don't complain," she gave in, wanting the annoyance to just shut up and die. She blushed and softly added, "I'm not used to it."

"I'm not really used to it either," Zaira scratched the back of her head. "My dad isn't a fan of...people. The only one that's ever slept over since my mom passed has been Zen. At least he doesn't snore," she chuckled nervously. Why am I acting so stupid, she asked herself. I bet my face is red too, she added.

Nerezza slightly smiled. "Um...yeah...okay." It was a little bit clearer now. "And...I guess I can answer some questions...you know, about me...If you have them..." A single finger barely scratched her cheek, wanting to hide how red she was turning.

"Alright. I'll just ask one question for now. Are you ready to sleep," she asked, looking exhausted.

The simple question was a relief to hear. Though, there was still tomorrow to go through. "Uh...s-sure...but don't sleep on the floor, 'kay?"

"Fine," Zaira smiled. "But that means we'll be sharing my bed."

"I...think I can deal with that..." She wasn't sure on that fact though. "I just don't want to take it away from you, since you seem to think it is so comfortable."

"It's a full size bed so we should both be able to fit. Do you have a...nevermind, stupid question. I'll get you some." Zaira ran into her room and dug out a spare pair of pajamas since the other girl obviously didn't have any. "I think these will fit you. Plus, they are fuzzy and warm." Zaira handed the clothes to her temporary roomie. "Go change in the bathroom." She pointed to a door right across from her room. "It's right there. I need to get you a tooth brush and, I apologize, but you'll have to use my childish toothpaste. I have yet to graduate from Crest Kids. I can't handle the adult type. Something or other about my mouth my dentist told me."

Luckily, toothpaste was something she had stowed away in her bag long ago. For one reason or another, she had never taken it out. "I'm okay on that..." On the other hand, the pajamas seemed a little too fuzzy and warm for her tastes. "I'd rather sleep in just my underwear," she commented. There was no way she was putting those on and wearing them for a significant amount of time.

Zaira turned bright red. "How about I just give you a t-shirt and boxers?" She rummaged through her closet and found a plain white T-shirt and cotton boxers. "Here."

"Just the t-shirt. I'm not a fan of boxers. Don't ever fit me quite right." She started to strip inside the room, forgetting that a bathroom existed for that purpose.

As if she really could, Zaira blushed even more. "R-Rez! Shouldn't you be changing in the bathroom?"

Nera didn't care. She was already stripped down and had thrown the large t-shirt over her head. "Forgot," she blankly said.

"Yeah, fine. Just...next time please use the bathroom for changing," Zaira sighed.

She just simply nodded.

Zaira pulled out a brand new tooth brush from the hall closet. "Go brush your teeth. In the bathroom," she added as an extra precaution.

She was going to argue that she always brushed her teeth outside, but something stopped her. She grabbed the toothbrush and the toothpaste from her bag, sliding into the bathroom for the five minutes it took to brush her teeth thoroughly. Nerezza exited, feeling nice and clean and ready to go to sleep, even if she wasn't tired. She just wanted to lay down and relax, if that was possible. "Done."

Zaira followed behind her. She had used her father's bathroom, which she would have to clean before he came back home, whenever that was. "Me too," she chirped happily. "You have to lay inbetween me and the wall because you might try to escape," Zaira teased.

Nera's cheeks had a pink tint. "Um...sure." Though she did think it was more comfortable to be against something solid.

Zaira blushed and waved her hands wildly. "I didn't mean it. I was joking," she laughed half-heartedly. "You don't have to sleep inside. You can have the outside if you want." Damn nerves, Zaira cursed herself.

Oh, that was the one thing Nera _didn't_ want happening. "What?" She growled in a low voice, eyes bright with anger.

Zaira gulped. _She looks like she's going to kill me_, she thought. "I just want you be to more comfortable since you're not used to it." Zaira looked at the ground, then up at Nerezza, and then her eyes went to the ground again. _Why do I have to keep screwing up_, she thought.

Nera glared her down. "You annoyed me to all hell, and then you say nevermind?" She was about to storm out and never come back to this state. "Are fucking kidding me," she said in a deadly whisper.

Zaira knew what she said wrong. It was a simple misunderstanding so she laughed a full hearted laugh. "I didn't mean outside as in the place. I meant outside as in the part of the bed inbetween me and the rest of the room," she explained as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help laughing. I thought you were mad at me because I was talking again. Although you are probably really mad at me for laughing. I'm sorry." Zaira's voice went from joy to worry and fear. They'd come so far in such a short amount of time.

Nerezza still didn't believe her, but there was nothing she could do. It was best to just humor Zaira and pretend it didn't hurt that much. "I'm fine against the wall," Nera bit. "I prefer it."

"Okay. Go ahead first. I have to shut down my computer." Zaira walked over to the computer and turned it off. Her father threatened kill her if the electric bill got any higher than last month. His threats were no laughing matter.

"Whatever." Nera stepped over to the bed and laid down. Her back was against the wall. It was oddly comforting.

Zaira sighed as the computer screen turned black. She loved having it on and it hurt when she had it off, but there was nothing she could do about it. She climbed into bed next to Rez and sat up to flip off the light switch. She quickly snuggled into the pillow and covers facing Nerezza. "Good night," she whispered.

Nera breathed in deep, heart racing and nerves running through her blood. "Uh...yeah..." Her eyes were wide open, not wanting to close with someone so near. She sighed. There was no way she would be getting to sleep tonight.

Zaira sighed and looked up at Nerezza. "I'm not going to do something to you while you are asleep." She closed her eyes. "I'm too tired to. And even if I wasn't too tired, I wouldn't pick on you. I'm not that type of person."

"I can't make myself believe that. It's too hard," Nera confessed, suddenly wanting to be polite for once.

"Then don't make yourself." Zaira opened her eyes and gave Rez a warm smile. "I'll show you a secret that my mom taught me. Not only does it keeps nightmares away, but it keeps all bad things away from you while you sleep." Zaira moved closer to Rez gave her a little kiss on the forehead. "Sweet dreams and good night little princess." Zaira snuggled back into the sheets, hiding her tired and blushing face. "i guess in your case it's more like a prince though huh?"

The action was odd, and she didn't quite understand how it would help, but it seemed to help her relax a bit, even if her heartbeat said otherwise. "Uh...t-thanks, I think." Memories of when she was a child and her brother held her close until she fell asleep, even with her major protests. Zaira reminded her a bit of that. Damn brother teaching her to give back what she received. That principle made her honor bound to so many things. And kissing Zaira's cheek in return was one of them. "Good night," she whispered, hiding her face as well as she could.

Zaira's blush grew deeper. She hadn't expected a return of her action. That was just a wonderful surprise. Wait...did she just think it was wonderful. She gave up on all her thoughts and fell asleep. She was a heavy sleeper and really hoped that Nerezza wouldn't try to escape.

Nothing would happen. She could trust Zaira. And besides, the girl was already asleep. Perhaps sleeping in a bed wasn't so bad. Nera squirmed a bit before finding a comfortable way to sleep. She let her eyes drift close and fell off to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Zaira snuggled into something soft. It wasn't her bed fabrics, it felt more like...hair. Why was she snuggling into hair? She opened her eyes a little and saw Nerezza's fluffy locks right beneath her chin. Zaira inhaled the girl's scent. It was something of nature. Earth, mixed with a lot of grass and tree. She smiled. That came to her as no surprise since she slept outside all the time. She didn't even find it odd that she held the girl in a defensive position. Arms wrapped around Nerezza's back, keeping her safe and warm. Zaira couldn't reject the reality any longer. She loved Nerezza...as a sister, or so she thinks. What, with both of them being girls it was impossible to love her more than that, right? She couldn't convince herself completely of that, but it would hold for now.

Nerezza's eyes fluttered open, surprised that she was still in one piece and not injured. And she was still in the bed. Something warm wrapped around her, a safety net keeping her relaxed. She had slept the entire way through the night, without any sort of bad dreams or panic. "Where...," Nera mumbled.

Oh, she had spent the night at Zaira's place for the night. In Zaira's room...In...Zaira's bed.

How did she even survive something like that? The punishment of sleeping inside...She couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. At least it was an experience.

The girl readjusted to feel more of the warmth hugging her. She absently sighed with content, a small smile playing on her lips.

...

Nera shot up. "Damn!" Her t-shirt loosely hugged her shoulders from rolling in her sleep. She didn't bother to pull it up. "Z-z-zaira?" She screamed after the realization. Her cheeks turned bright red, still not caring about the almost wardrobe malfunction.

Zaira groaned. Damn, Rez woke up, she thought. "What is it," she mumbled sleepily.

Nera hopped out of the bed, standing in just the shirt that barely covered the feminine parts of her body. "W-w-why were you holding me?"

Zaira yawned. "I don't know," she replied simply. "I guess it was an instinct."

Nerezza glanced around for her bag. "I think I should leave."

"Why? Did it feel wrong?" Zaira was thinking less than usual since it was morning so her questions were short and simple. Then she remember what she said last night. "Nevermind. You don't have to answer any more of my questions if you don't want to. I told you I would only ask that one and so I shall." Zaira got out of bed and stretched her back out. Her shirt lifted up a little, leaving some of her belly exposed for a minute until she brought her arms back down.

Nera quickly turned her head the other way. "N-not exactly...Just..." She still didn't find it necessary to put real clothes back on. "And I don't really care about questions. I'll answer any you have..." There was no real point in running away. She just needed to calm down a bit and think this over, silently and to herself. It was nerves that made her get up and feel like hiding.

The girl forced herself to sit criss-cross on the end of the bed. "Um...so..questions?" She said, feeling a bit more awkward than usual.

Zaira pointed to her closet. "Do you want to barrow some of my clothes? Your clothes look like they need to go for a spin in the washer and dryer," she said with a light chuckle. There was just something about this that made her feel calm and more adult-like. Maybe it was because she cared so much for Nerezza. That's when Zaira began to wonder when she started feeling this way.

"Um..." Nerezza stared at the ruffled blankets beneath her. "I'm okay in this shirt." In truth, she didn't want to take it off. Her excuse was because it was too comfortable.

"You'll have to change before we go to school though. I'm going to go put your clothes in the laundry so feel free to go through my clothes and pick something out." Zaira picked up Rez's clothes and took them with her to the laundry room.

"What about the shirt?" She asked, but Zaira was already away from the room. Nera went to investigate the closet of clothes. She grabbed a regular pair of jeans and a tank, swiftly changing into them.

No, it felt weird wearing pants that weren't hers. However, she was too lazy, and comfortable, to change out of them. They actually fit her pretty well, too. Amazing that two different people could fit the same size clothing. She sniffed the t-shirt she had worn to bed, curious as to why it had attracted her.

There was a mixture of her scent, and Zaira's, though she couldn't quite place everything. If she had never seen Zen, she knew from the smell of the shirt that Zaira was a dog owner, and...a lover of soft, fruity smells? No, it wasn't quite that either. Nera held the fabric to her nose and inhaled deeply. Whatever it was, at least it smelled good.

Zaira called for Zen. She poured the dog some food and shouted, "Breakfast!" Every time she said that Zen was like a normal dog. He sprinted from where ever he was and chowed down. "Wow. You are normal sometimes," Zaira said amused. "Do you want anything to eat Rez?"

Nera dropped the shirt and peeked her head out the door. "I don't eat, remember?"

"Right," Zaira laughed. "Sorry for asking a stupid question then."

"Um...yeah..." Nerezza still joined Zaira, even though she wasn't eating. It was only polite after sleeping in her bed.

Zaira pulled out a jar of strawberry jelly and toasted some bread. "Even though you don't like food, feel free to eat anything you can find." The toast popped up and she smeared a generous helping of jelly on each of the slices. Strawberry jelly was way better than grape jelly, Zaira thought with a nod. She was in such a good mood she started to wiggle her hips in a little dance and hum a tune.

Nerezza continued to glance away, blushing as she did so. It was best to avoid any contact with the girl. Being in the same room was bad enough. "No, but t-thanks...," she stammered slightly.

Zaira stopped abruptly and turned around. "Are you going to become a hunter?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, not knowing what type of hunter the girl was specifically talking about.

"I mean in 'The World', silly. I asked you online, but you never got a chance to answer. You logged out."

"Oh...that." Silly? Nerezza was never silly. "I imagine it would give me a rep," she answered.

"Cool. We'll go talk with Dingo after school and get you your license."

"...Do I really have to?" She made the mistake of glancing at Zaira. It was only bad news for her, not for Zaira. At least, not that Nera knew of.

"You just said that you wanted to do it," Zaira pouted.

_Don't pout_, she consciously thought, much to her misfortune. "Yeah...did I?"

"You just did," Zaira cried. "I give up, just meet me in the mercenary district later."

"And I'm supposed to know what that is...how?"

Zaira almost cried at this point. "Meet me in front of the dome then."

"...fine," Nera forcefully agreed.

"Hey, I just want to make sure I got this right so don't get mad. The deal with your brother...all you have to do is become the most popular person in it right?"

"Technically...but, he tends to add rules later on...," Nera sighed. "Knowing him, I'll have to play with a full group through a good part of the last levels...That'll really suck."

"Well, if I'm part of your group then you won't have to worry," Zaira said happily.

"I think I would have to worry more," she mumbled to herself.

"But if I'm in your group then you'll finish faster, then you won't even have to play the world and you can get whatever your brother promised for you. Isn't that what you want?" Zaira wanted to stay with Rez as long as she could, but she wanted the girl to be happy more than anything.

"Uh..." Rez lightly scratched her cheek. "Yeah..."

"Then I'm going to help you do that," Zaira cheered with a genuine smile.

"Why?" The question was asked automatically.

Zaira folded her arms on the table and laid her head on them. "I want Rez to be happy."

"...I still don't understand," she completely didn't comprehend the idea, still.

Zaira groaned inwardly. Rez was going to be the death of her. Now that she thought about it...that might not be so bad. "I just like it when other people are happy. There really isn't anything to understand. It's just how I am."

"But...I don't understand wanting other people happy. That's the point" She should just come right out and ask Zaira to explain things to her. How can she be on better terms with someone if she couldn't see it from their point of view?

Zaira was silent for a moment and didn't look up when she answered. "Is it so wrong for me to want others to be happy? I think that if everybody was happy, then nobody would get hurt."

"So...because I don't wish for others to be happy, does that make me selfish? But I don't wish for my own happiness either..." It was a good sign that she would actually feel someone bad about being selfish. Her brother was dead for this.

"I don't think it makes you selfish...I mean you don't even want your own happiness." Zaira picked up her head and looked at her friend with a puppy-like expression. "Why wouldn't you want to be happy anyway?"

"I never really knew what it meant, so why want it, ya know?"

"To have something you've never known," Zaira mused.

"And that's a good thing?" Nera asked, confused as to where this conversation was headed.

"I'd like to think so," Zaira answered. "It might be a little hard to believe, but I was not a very happy, smiley child."

Nerezza found herself wanting to ask more questions, follow what she assumed to be curiosity. Though, she continued conversation with her own comment. "I was..." She tucked her chin in her arms on the table. Her eyes stayed on Zaira. "When I was young...I would smile and laugh and joke around with everyone...the happiest person at age 2." She chuckled sarcastically thinking about it. "You'd never see a more talented little girl...Funny that my parents were proud back then."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

Nera slightly lifted her head. "Not sure, really. Dad and mom went away one night...and when mom came back...Ani took me aside and told me to hide under the bed. I thought it was a game, hide and seek, ya know?" The girl sounded like she was crying, but she wasn't.

"You're lucky to have a brother. I wish I had one." Zen barked at her angrily. "Sorry. I do have a brother so nevermind," Zaira said happily.

"That's a stupid thing to wish for," Nera scoffed. She saw it as a liability to have someone else related to her she was supposed to be responsible for...once he got into trouble, of course. Other than that, the man took pretty good care of himself, but still annoyed her to no end.

"To have someone who can help you and someone you can help...It must be nice." Being an only child, excluding Zen, Zaira always wanted a sibling. She envied those that did, like Kane. You could never feel alone if you had a sibling.

"...really, it's not that much fun. You can switch places with me, if ya want. I'd rather not have a sibling, or parents." She was already alone. What did it matter taking away her blood relatives? It's not like most of them noticed she was there anyway.

"I don't want to put you in that kind of danger," Zaira said before realizing her mouth was even moving. She frantically turned around and looked at the clock. "Look at the time. We should really be getting ready for school." She shot up and ran up the stairs. Grabbing a pair of clean clothes on the way, she dashed into the bathroom.

Nera was already finished.

What danger would the girl be put in without family? Zaira was probably just spitting words again. And yet, she found herself still talking to her. "I wouldn't be in danger, ya know!"

"Just get ready for school!"

"Coward...you ask me questions that I answer, but you can't answer the questions I ask you?"

"You didn't ask a question, you made a statement, now please get ready for school. We're going to be late."

"Zaira," Rez coldly demanded.

"It's not like it's bad or anything. I just spoke without thinking is all. Seriously, I didn't mean it," Zaira said with honest eyes.

"You owe me an explanation about the danger I would be in by not having a sibling. I don't care where or when, but soon. I tend to be impatient sometimes." Nera grabbed her bag without another word and walked out the door, not caring in the slightest if Zaira was following. And to think, the idea of maybe eating something for breakfast with her had crossed Nera's mind. Now that thought disappeared. If this couldn't be a fair "relationship", then there would be more tension then there already was.

Zaira looked at the girl in surprise before grabbing her backpack and following her out. She was only talking about sibling switching. Zaira thought she meant switching families. That would be dangerous, but if they just switched siblings then...

"Well, Zen is my loyal pet, he wouldn't accept a new owner. He might bite ya," Zaira said playfully.

"Don't care. He would listen to me in no time. I would rather have one dog then a set of parents and a brother anytime," she answered, staring straight ahead.

"I guess," Zaira mused. "But you'd still have a dad you know?"

"I don't understand..." Nerezza remarked.

"I have a dad to deal with. It's not just me and Zen. And sometimes my dad can be a little...demanding."

"Aren't they all," Rez sighed.

"I guess you right," Zaira hummed.

That caused the girl to turn around. "What?" Nera gasped. It wasn't very often someone said she was right.

Zaira stopped, a little surprised with Rez's reaction. "I said that your right."

It took everything she had to keep her jaw from dropping. "I'm...what?"

"Um...You're correct."

The girl shook her head. "...a-are ya sure that's what you said?"

"I said that you were right, but you didn't understand so I said that you were correct. I'm pretty sure they have the same meaning when put into this context though."

"...whatever..." Nera blushed, continuing on her way to school.

Zaira followed close behind. She hadn't walk to school with someone since her mom died. It was nice having the company again. She would never take it for granted

Rez twitched in the slightest, feeling a bit awkward. She didn't have anything to talk about, yet, she felt the need to bring up conversation. "So...do I really have to go to school?" She brought up again for lack of ideas.

"Of course you do! Especially since I have to. It will make my day a lot better."

"Selfish...," she mumbled. "What about eating?"

Zaira froze and put a hand on chin. "I kind of forgot to make lunches so...yay for you because I won't be able to force you to eat, but boo for me because I actually like eating."

Nera searched her pockets and backpack quickly. She pulled out some money and handed it to Zaira. "Here, take some green paper. I don't use it."

Zaira blushed. Rez was...being nice to her. "Sankyuu," she shouted as she gratefully hugged her friend.

"UGH!" She pushed the girl off of her. "Don't do that." Really, it wasn't that she hated the surprise hug. In fact, her cheeks turned a soft pink. It was just one more thing making her change, and she didn't want to change.

"Fine," Zaira mumbled. _No PDA_, she thought. "Go easy on me though because I'm not used to hiding my emotions, but I'll try," she finished with a sigh.

"Go easy? What would I have to go easy on?" She meant to think that, but it slipped past her lips anyway. She shyly turned away, already knowing the many answers there could be.

Zaira thought for a moment. "Not yelling or hitting me if I accidentally show affection toward you would be nice," she mused.

"Argh...fine." She growled through her teeth.

"R-Really?"

"Urgh...yes," she hissed, not wanting that answer to slip past her tongue.

"Yay," Zaira cheered. "So where do you want to meet in 'The World' later? We never decided. You probably only know where the dome is," she said with a chuckle.

Nera glared. "Would you like to be choked?" She lovingly asked, holding a hand out in front of Zaira's neck, proving that she wasn't afraid to go through with the threat.

"Was I wrong," Zaira asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"What, can't take a threat?" She offered a smirk. "No harm in words, right?"

Zaira smiled. "The dome it is. Right after school. Don't be late."

"Can't make any promises," she cleverly answered before stepping onto school campus.

Zaira made a face. "You're so cruel..."

"You bet," she dead-panned.

* * *

A/N: I finally got my lazy butt off the couch (I was watching White Collar and Psych btw) and updated this. doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy in side.

Wolfy: It makes me feel something alright *thinks*It makes me feel like punching you*/think*


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

That day couldn't have gone by any slower. At lunch time Kane had bothered Zaira about not being at school and not calling. He was acting like he was her mother. She had never prayed for lunch to go faster, but there's always a first time for everything. After the final bell rang, Zaira rushed home as fast as she could. She wanted to avoid Kane and meet up with Rez in 'The World'.

Zaira tossed her backpack on her bed and logged in. Luna appeared on the computer screen and she teleported from Lumina Cloth to Mac Anu to await her friend.

Nera could really care less at this point. Why was she still logging into "The World" pretty much every damn day, when all it did was annoy her to no end? It wasn't even a getaway for her.

Her brother bothered her, and Zaira couldn't leave her alone for one second. Always pushing and pushing, those two.

Still, as much as she hated it, she found herself logging in once again, after another slow and painful day at school.

Maybe she could get away with a day alone. Lyall appeared at the dry town of Mac Anu, hating the bland colors that they just had to make it. Of course Luna was waiting. "Not again," Lyall sighed.

Luna spotted Lyall and called over to him, "Hey! Are you ready to get your hunting license?"

"Jeez," he answered, putting his hand to his forehead. Once again, it was a date he had forgotten about. "...sure, why not? Not like I have much else to do," he said dryly.

The smile never left Luna's face but on the inside she twitched. _He forgot again_, she thought. "Then follow me to the quest shop and we'll get you started. Wait...What level are you right now?"

"Uh...49? Why?" As far as he knew, it didn't matter.

Luna sighed. "Good. If you were already over level fifty we would have to go to Dol Dona to do it. We'd go to Dol Dona, go on the quest, return to Dol Dona, come back her, go to the Mercenary District and talk to Dingo. We just have to go on the quest, come back and talk with Dingo." _Plus, we are way passed the recommended level so it'll be a piece of cake_, she added in thought.

"That would take too long. I don't do complicated, anyway." Good thing they didn't have to deal with another city. Two were fine enough.

"Perfect. Let's head to the quest shop then." Instead of teaching Lyall how to use the town teleporters she decided they would just walk. It wasn't far anyway. Just in Central.

"Go talk to the quest guy and accept the 'Bounty Hunters Quest'. Don't forget to invite me into your party...oh, wait...we need a third player." Luna thought for a moment. "Nevermind. I'll handle that." And by handle it, I mean hack it, she thought happily.

Lyall grumbled as usual, not liking the fact that she would handle the third person. But for the sake of time and deals, he accepted the quest. "So who's the third person? And if you say Kitcat or Kusari, I am logging off." Lyall hoped it wasn't anyone he hated, otherwise Luna would really fall into a coma.

"It's Kitkat with a K, not C and our third member is already a part of the party. Check it out." Luna sent an image of how their trio looked in the computer's system. Apparently they let a person named UG07H4CK3D into their trio. Luna whistled innocently. It's not like she was doing anything _that _bad. It was just adding a non-existing character to their team so that they could go on a quest. It was for the greater good.

Lyall glared. "Who the hell...?"

"I hacked and made it look like we have a party of three so that we could take the quest. I thought that since you really didn't want to bring other people along, then this was a good idea. Now we don't have a third person tagging along," Luna said with a smile.

"Are you stupid?" He dragged her over to an empty corner. "If they find out, we are banned," he yelled in a whisper. That was the one thing even Kusari stayed away from.

"Relax, I've done it enough times to know how not to get caught, but if we take too long than they are going to find out so let's go," Luna said in a hushed tone.

This time, it was Lyall's turn to do the hacking. As much as he would be mocked, it was finally time to bring it to an end. There was no way he would cheat like that.

It took him more time then he hoped, but Lyall finally pulled off something he never wanted to attempt. Kusari was hacked and she appeared before them.

"Take that, you savage bea-", She looked around. "Where did my monster go?"

"Forget the monster," Lyall said in a hurried tone. "You gotta stop the tracking. She was a complete idiot and decided to hack into the system, creating a non-existent character just so we could do the hunter's quest. You know I can't be banned!"

Kusari figured it was something big. She sighed. "I'm not sure...You know how long that would take..."

"I know, but you would still be able to stop it before they can track."

The girl turned to Luna. "It would mean abandoning the quest for today, and taking the day off. You both would need to log out."

It was already known that Lyall didn't care.

Luna growled. She didn't think it was such a big deal. She had done it countless times before when she felt like being alone. Honestly, people doing that kind of hacking was the least of CC Corp's worries. "It doesn't take that long if you know what you are doing," she mumbled. It only took her a few minutes to get rid of the extra character as if it had never even been put there in the first place. "Happy? They can't even trace it now."

Kusari glanced at her like she was the dumbest person that ever lived. "Excuse me? Who is the expert hack here? Even if you erase it, you could still be suspended for the attempt. They track the alarm to both of you, retrace steps to find that it was erased, only to find that it was still you who erased him. It's not the existence of the character, it's the tracking virus they put into it."

"So...you can fix it?"

Kusari sighed at the boy. "Well...it would have taken till bed, but thanks to a certain someone it might take until tomorrow afternoon to destroy the trace completely."

"Good. Have fun." But like the press, Kusari was a double edged sword. She was useful when needed, but a pain to have around.

"Haven't you learned to not teleport away from me? I can make it so you can't even save your progress."

"You know how much I could do in two hours?"

"And I'm not so much of a bitch that I would cheat our deal like that. So, as long as Luna agrees to log off, I will let you go." Lyall growled, as well as Nera in real life, cursing her brother. Anthony was worse online. "Luna?"

Luna growled again. "Lyall, leave if you want. Kusari! Hidden Forbidden Dead Wood...NOW!" She teleported to the for mentioned Lost Ground.

Lyall stood next to Kusari. "So, do you want to leave?"

The boy shook his head. "I wanna see her get her head ripped off."

Kusari giggled. "Of course you do. I've taught you well." They both teleported in, the white tree standing before them. "What is this about, Luna?"

Luna stared at the tree, not bothering to turn around to greet Kusari kindly like she normally would. She threw her arms down at her sides like a child would when throwing a temper tantrum. "I can't believe you-urg. I'm so mad I could-grr. Everything was fine and then-gah. I even worked hard on the-AHHHHHHH," she screamed. When Luna couldn't make complete sentences that made sense, you knew she was really mad. Not, 'I-hate-you' mad, but 'I'm-going-to-kill-you-in-the-face-with-the-nearest-random-object-I-can-find-and-leave-your-butchered-body-on-display-for-the-whole-world-to-see-how-badly-you-pissed-me-off' mad.

Kusari cocked her head to the side. Not a damn thing that was said just then made sense to her. She just stood there in silence, waiting to see if there was more ranting to be done. Maybe if Zaira ranted for long enough, they would get down to the real problem. That was a trick which worked on Nerezza half of the time, until she learned the trick.

"I just worked really hard on that hack, you know. I made two automated programs for it and everything. One to have the character have the average stats between us so that it didn't look suspicious and one to delete any activity done when it was being used. Wait, I made a third one to sweep after it got deleted too. I made three seperate programs just to be able to...Just to make Lyall happy...at least I thought it would make him happy. He doesn't like playing with people so I thought I would do that once, just for him, but he ended up mad." Luna folded her arms and looked sadly at the dead tree. "I wish I could tell you why I wouldn't get caught even if I didn't do all of that, but I know you'll jsut tell Lyall..."

So it came down to Lyall...and secrets. This was most interesting. "Why I would tell him? Sure the face behind the character is my sister, but it's not like I tell her everything. She never asks anyway. Besides," Kusari smiled, "I gave you a ribbon of trust and peace. Whatever is said will lay within the tree, locked away with the other secrets I have never revealed."

And Kusari always kept her promises. She liked to stay trustworthy. With that in mind, she waved her hand and sent Lyall back to the city.

"DAMN. IT. YOU. LOLITA. BITCH!" Lyall screamed, stomping with every word.

So that's what the ribbon was for, Luna thought. "Please don't get mad. I've been lying to you guys and everyone in 'The World'. I...I work in a special decision of CC Corp. I get paid to hack without getting caught. I say I'm a normal character, but I'm not," she cried. This was her only secret she had ever kept from anybody. Even her dad didn't know. She turned around and shook her arms wildly in the air. "I mean, I had to make money somehow. My dad barely sends enough for me to buy food much less pay the bills!"

"...you live alone? Why didn't you tell me when I was over at your house?" The man behind the character went into flashback, memory mode, seeing what had happened. There was Zen, of course he remembered that. And then the remark about her dad giving her Zen...lonely. Kusari slapped her forehead. "Oh! I am so stupid sometimes!"

He had been told! He just let it slip past him. Completely ignoring the confession of her job at CC Corp., Kusari laid her hands on Luna's shoulders. "Do you need someplace to live? Or maybe some financial help? I could even get you another job if you want!"

She thought about that sentence once again. "You work where?" The girl started pacing back and forth. "Oy vey!" There were so many things that could go wrong with that. Even though Kusari was one of the main people in charge, she never knew that Luna worked at CC Corp. Surely someone would have told her at some point.

"What should I do? I mean, I didn't know, and I ruined everything, but it was still illegal unless it was a given test, though I've done hacking things no one else has ever achieved...but still!" Kusari stopped, staring at Luna. "Do you know what this means? This means that they have begun to steal my best work! They are learning my trade! Without my permission! That's copyright!"

"Don't people tell people anything anymore?" Her boggled mind didn't think straight, and there was so much going through her head that she lost all concentration on her hacking skills, setting Lyall free.

"Yes!" Lyall cheered..."Damn it!" And that was him swearing because there was still a block on Hidden Forbidden Dead Wood. He wouldn't be able to get in for awhile yet.

"Honestly, what is wrong with society these days?" She continued to rant. "It's not like you actually want to live alone...Stupid kleptomaniacs...can't come up with their own, so they try to copy somebody else's handiwork...I'll show them!" She finally took a moment to breathe.

"It's fine as long as I send an alert of when I'm hacking to CC Corp. That's what the name UG07H4CK3D was for. I put that as a main part of the script so that they know that I found a weak spot. That's why less and less people can hack their characters. You should see the hacked character CC Corp had me make while doing normal hacking. They call it 'The Ultima'. Stupid name, huh?

"Every time I do a big hack like the one I did for Lyall, they send me to help the programmers block hacks like mine. It's kind of like making anti-viruses, but they're anti-hacks. I really like doing it too. They handle paying the bills to my house and I'm cheap so I go to the dollar store for most my food. I don't really eat much, but I eat healthy so I don't have to eat as much anyway. Sometimes Kane's family lets me tag along for dinners and stuff too." Luna smirked. "I'm sure he'd invite you over if you asked nicely."

"I'm more worried about you not being able to handle by yourself. I have plenty of my own food, and with me living close to home, mom is willing to help me out if I need it. What I don't tell her is that I make plenty of money, just on the side alone, to pay for everything, but I let her pay for some things so some can go to Nera. I'm sure she would love to be invited for a dinner. You know how much she eats..."

Kusari carefully sat down, her dress creating a nice puffy ring around her. "How is the reading going, by the way?"

Luna twitched. "Reading, right? Uh, I haven't really read much," she laughed nervously. "I kind of feel like I'd be betraying Lyall's trust." Luna made a serious face. "And you know how much trust she has." Luna spread her fingers about an inch apart. She looked at them for a second, blush and used her hands to indicate about a foot. "She slept over once so I guess she trusts me a little more than that. Although she is mad at me now." Luna made the first gesture again.

"A sleepover? That is a step up." She smiled. "From the looks of things, you had some fun!" Kusari giggled.

Luna's head turned into a tomato. "I couldn't just let her sleep outside. It would have been really rude. Plus, I like taking care of Kuri's sister. It's not a big deal at all. When I was younger, I would take care of Kane. He got picked on a lot because he's the sensitive type. You know, the kind that cries at the ends of movies. He doesn't even try to hide it either." Luna thought for a second. "His favorite type of movie is Romance. I'm sure he'd be happy to go with you sometime." Luna grinned evilly. "I showed him a movie about two boys falling in love and he found it interesting. He blushed through it all, but I know he loved it."

"She didn't wear bottoms?" Kusari pretended to think hard. "Rez normally covers everything...she even wears a sweatshirt to bed if she doesn't have a long sleeve on." Seems his little sister was starting to change already. "Now, about Kane?"

Luna layed on the ground comfortably. They might be there for a while. "What do you want to know," she asked with a wink.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Are you still mad at me," Luna asked as she chased after Lyall. She apologized a million times already, but was that enough for her, no. Of course it wasn't. It never was. "I'm sorry okay. I wasn't trying to make you mad."

"When am I not mad at you, Luna?" Now, two things were already wrong with that question. One, Lyall had already forgotten why he was mad at her, and two, she rarely ever called Luna by her name. Hopefully it wasn't too noticeable.

"Good. I'm busy then, anyway." Lyall turned around, arms crossed in front of his chest. Why did he care if she was gone? He was angry with her anyway. Good riddance, he thought.

"You're not curious at all? Not about the _guy's_ house I will be going to? All alone. Just him and me." Luna hoped that Lyall would get the hint. Wasn't he curious at all...or concerned?

There was a slight twitch in his eye. "Why should I care? It's not like we're friends," he answered, hinting at anger and possibly a bit of unnamed jealousy.

Luna looked at the ground. "Oh...I'm sorry to have bothered you then." Without another word Luna warped to her favorite Lost Ground. Hidden Forbidden Sacrament. The Great Temple of Caerleon Medb. She liked going there because nobody knew about it. At least that is what she would like to think.

Lyall stomped his foot, creating a cloud of dust around him. "I. Fucking. QUIT!" He screamed, wishing that stupid bitch Kusari had let his character free. He wasn't able to go anywhere, or even log out. He wasn't even able to accept quests, or continue ones he had already taken.

Caerleon Medb was one of the few large Lost Grounds. From the center warp point eight paths stretched out in every direction. It was rumored that the legendary Haseo, the 'Terror of Death' went there with six others and took the Lost Weapons from their places at the end of each path. There was one that had always been missing. Luna always stood, sat or layed down in the place where that missing weapon was. Even though all the paths looked exactly the same there was something that made the spot distinctive. There was noise on the screen when you stood in the ring.

Luna sat watching her screen come to life with noise. It wasn't harmful to her game or system so she just let it be. If she really wanted to she could probably get rid of it, but it could be dangerous if she didn't have other players with her. For now she would leave it alone and enjoy the noise.

Her computer pinged as she got an alert message from the system. 'Congratulations! You have been chosen for a special event. Bring along you strongest friend and test your strength and teamwork! The special Area Words are Concealed Friend's Nemesis.'

Luna read the message and teleported herself to Mac Anu at lightning speed. "Lyall," she shouted as she ran toward him. "Lyall! Lyall! Lyall," she repeated. "Come with me for a special event!"

"Don't yell!" Lyall wanted to knock her out. "And why the hell would I want to go to a special event? Do you even know what the hell it is?"

"Come on Lyall," Luna begged. "Please! We won't be able to play together this weekend so I was to end with a special event. Pretty please...with cake on top!"

The rogue heaved a sigh. "I don't have enough time. The library computer is going to kick me off in less than three."

"Then we'll make it fast," Luna smiled. She forced Lyall into her party with a hack and teleported them to Concealed Friend's Nemesis. "It's just a boss area and there are no monsters besides that so it should be faster than three minutes."

"That's not the way it works, Luna. Get me another computer without time limit. Something always happens with this kind of stuff. You know what I mean?" Lyall looked around. "Not only that, but this place just doesn't feel right." He wrapped his hand around Shadow Loba, glancing the entire area. "Another computer, though. That's my condition for finishing this event. Got it?" His blazing eyes glared at his partner.

"Fine. Go get on another computer. I'll stick around this area and wait," Luna said with a pout.

"I don't have another computer! That's the problem."

"Then let's stop wasting time and get this over with. If you log out then I'll just do it alone. It's not like it's going to be hard."

"Fine. Didn't wanna help you anyway." Nera took the liberty of logging herself out before the last minute was over. If Luna was so sure to do it on her own, then Lyall would let her. Nera grabbed her bag and left the library.

"We could have killed the boss in under thrity seconds, but he decided to fight with me instead. Stupid Lyall," Luna shouted loudly. "Anyway, I don't care if he's here or not," Luna started as she headed for the boss. "I'll kill it by myself. I don't need him. Eh?" Luna looked up at the bridge that led to the boss. There were three characters. Two were Tribal Grapplers and the third, who looked like he was the leader, was a Blade Brandier.

"When they come, you two will take the girl. Lyall is mine," he growled.

_Lyall was right to be suspicious of this place_, Luna thought. "Crap! That means I'll have to apologize later," Luna screamed in agony. "I don't wanna do that!"

The three players turned around. The Tribal Grappler's names were Cookie and Cloud. Dragui was the Blade Brandier. He looked toward her and smiled. "So you two are finally here, huh?"

Luna laughed nervously. "Actually Lyall already left so it's just me."

"What? But Lyall is the one I want!"

"Well aren't you a prissy pussy," Luna mumbled.

"Shut up you furry!"

"I am not a furry!"

Cookie looked over at Cloud. He tilted his head toward the exit and Cloud nodded. They weren't going to stick around for this useless fight.

"Who are you anyway," Luna shouted

The Blade Brandier smirked. "My name is Dragui. I'm a PK and Lyall is my prey!"

"He PKKed you, huh?"

"I refuse to believe that a newbie like him could PK someone as great as me, the all powerful Dragui!"

Luna had a laughing fit. "All powerful, I don't think so."

Dragui growled. "That's it. Cookie, Cloud, take her down," he shouted as he pointed toward the twin blade

Luna looked behind him and laughed. Cookie and Cloud were teleporting out of the area as they spoke. "Looks like you go ditched."

"Then I'll take care of you myself!"

Zen barked in the real world and Zaira sighed. "Sorry I have chores to do. Maybe I'll beat you some other time."

"Wait a minute. I want to get revenge on Lyall for disgracing me."

"God, you are a pain in the ass! Here, Monday, same time. See you then," Luna saluted and teleported out of 'The World'. She fed Zen and finished packing her weekend bag. Hopefully this weekend will go by fast so that she could just relax and play 'The World' like she usually did.

Nera jumped up onto her usual branch, hanging her bag on the end so no one would be able to steal it. "That's it. I'm done. For good. The deal isn't that important."

"Not important?"

"Go away, Ani." She crossed her arms.

"Do you remember what you put on the line?" He crawled up onto the branch next to her, but a little lower down.

"I don't care. Too much bullshit for me to enjoy it at all. And Zaira doesn't help."

"Think it over. You would owe a lot backing out now." Anthony landed on his two feet on the ground. "If I were you, I would just work something out." He smiled and walked off.

She watched her brother disappear on the path returning to their house. Perhaps it was best to try, wait and see what happened. Zaira's house wasn't far. A little talk with her wouldn't hurt, right?

She slipped the bag over her shoulder and dove off, landing on all fours. She ran through the shortcuts, eventually making it to the outside of Zaira's house. Nera saw her in the window, taking care of her dog and probably doing something in the kitchen.

Bravely, she approached the front door. She sighed, eyeing the doorbell. She knocked softly, hoping it wasn't loud enough to hear and she could just back to her tree. "Stupid idea..."

Zen's ears twitched and he looked towards the door. Zaira walked over to the door and opened it. He eyes widened a little bit. "Rez? Um...Come in," she said unsurely as she opened the door wider so that she could walk in if she wanted.

"Sorry! Wrong house!" Nera said nervously, blushing and turning to run down the stairs.

Zaira grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside. "Liar," she dead-panned.

She let out a small noise of surprise. "Am not!" She lamely fought back. She was already here, and inside, so there was no point in attempting to go back. Her mind went into a slight one second shock when she realized Zaira was holding her wrist. "Uh..." Her cheeks turned a darker shade of red.

"Oh...n-no reason..." Nera stood, looking at her wrist as if it would change any second from her touch.

"Liar," Zaira dead-panned again.

_Emotionless? That's not right_. "So...you're not smiling. Or forcing me to eat..." That was her way of asking if everything was alright. She wasn't able to say the words out loud.

_Worry? That's not right._ "So..you're concerned for my well-bring now," she asked. Zaira felt different all of a sudden, not a good kind though. She felt like being mean and that was very unlike her, but for some reason she couldn't help it. Maybe she was mad at Rez...Wait, she is. _What was it again? Oh yeah, she didn't seem to care when I told her that I would be over at some random guy's house_, Zaira thought. She couldn't seem to let that go.

"O-of course not!" _Concerned for her well-being...in her dreams._ "That's not...let me..." Words weren't working for her. The question spit out anyway, regardless of if she wanted it to or not. "Who's this guy? A-a-and, do you hate me?" Nera shut her eyes tight, clamping her hands into tight fists. Mostly, her eyes were closed so she didn't have to hear the words out of her own mouth, but it wasn't effective at all.

"To answer you first question, I don't know who the guy is, I just know that...uh, I have to work with him," Zaira finished. She almost let her secret slip. "And to answer you second question, no, I don't hate you."

Her eyes stayed shut. "But...but what if..." _What if something happens?_

"What if what?" Zaira gave Rez an annoyed look. If she wanted to say something she should just come right out and say it.

"Uh," Nera opened her eyes for a brief moment, sighing while she stared at the floor. "N-nothing...nevermind."

"Just say it. Whatever you want to say, say it," Zaira ordered. She was tired of Rez beating around the bush like she was. She was mad because Rez wouldn't admit that she was worried about her.

"It doesn't matter, okay? I don't care if this male stranger is really a sexual predator in disguise! I wouldn't come to your rescue if he decided to attempt murder on you! Why the hell would any of that matter to me?" Of course she meant the opposite. Nera couldn't show worry. Her emotions were locked away, so why? Zaira was quickly changing her, and she was afraid. She was fearful of what would happen to who she was now, and before. It wouldn't be the same, and the thought of becoming someone else entirely wrenched her stomach.

Zaira's face glowed crimson as the blood rushed to her cheeks. So...Nerezza really did like her. That made Zaira...really, really happy. She let a broad smile take over her face. "You don't have to worry about that kind of thing. I'll be okay. You don't have to worry about me at all. I'm just going over to his house for work, if he even tries anything he gets fired. This isn't the first time I've gone over to other people's houses when I don't know them."

"Eh? Worry?" Worry? Am I? Nerezza glanced up at Zaira. "I'm not...no way...that's not...UGH! Damn words!" She yelled on accident.

Zaira giggled. "It's alright. Just forget about it. Is that all you came here for, or did you need something else?"

"I..." She stepped backwards. "I wanted to leave 'The World'."

"Why did you have to come here to tell me that? You could have just told me at school," Zaira answered calmly. She wanted to screech and shout at her to not leave, but that wouldn't help. "What about that deal with your brother?"

"I just owe him more than I can ever give...he already knows...he said I should think it over..." No, that wasn't right. Why didn't Zaira chew her out, yelling at her to stay? Was Lyall really that useless to her?

"Think about it all weekend. You can tell me in 'The World' on Monday," Zaira said with a sly smile. "I expect to see you there. We still have to finish our special event." She wasn't going to let Rez get a word in edgewise. "Now, I have to finish packing and I'll see you then, kay?" She pushed her friend out the door and waved goodbye through the window before closing the blinds.

Nerezza glared. She came all this way, only to be kicked out. There was no possible way she could just walk away from that. There was still one more question to be asked. The girl rang the doorbell, and continued to push the button until she was let in once again.

"What," Zaira whined loudly.

"Why do you need to pack? You're not sleeping over at some random guy's house, are you?" The words rolled off her tongue, whether accident or not, she didn't stutter or stumble.

"Nope," Zaira answered with a smile. "But I will be staying overnight. I have to pack extra clothes for the next day. I'll be up all night working with him on the prog...er, I mean, project."

"You realize how _stupid _that is?" Nera started getting frustrated. Not even she would trust sleeping over at some stranger's house, guy or girl.

"It's how I always do it. I don't like sleeping in other people's homes, but the faster I get the work done, the faster I get to come back home to Zen. That's why I don't sleep over at anybodies house. Ask Kane. I've never even slept over at his house."

"No one could save you if something happens."

"I can save myself. I don't need a babysitter. My work might not even last all night. I already did most of it earlier."

"Fine." Nera said offensively. "By the way, I expect to get my journal back," she said before slamming the door.

"Ask Anthony for it back then," Zaira shouted. _How the hell did she know that I have it?_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Zen, be good while I'm gone. Don't let anybody near the house, keep all real estate agents away from the neighborhood and make sure you scare the hell out of anybody who dares to knock on the door." Zen barked in understanding and sat by the door, waiting to say good-bye to his master. Zaira grabbed her bag from upstairs and was on her way to her co-workers house.

It wasn't too far, but Zaira still didn't like walking. She reached the man's door and rang the bell.

The six foot something pretty boy stood in the doorway, fresh out of the shower. "Who're you?" He answered calmly, his voice low and sweet.

"Get some damn clothes on you pervert. I'm here to help with the programming for the hack I did. Hurry up I want to go home as soon as possible." Zaira somehow managed to shove the overly-large guy out of her way and dropped her bag by the door. She saw a comfy looking blue couch and jumped onto it. "Comfy couch," she complimented. "Where's the computer?"

"Upstairs." He pointed to the left, pulling on some pants. "Don't sit on that couch."

Zaira pouted, but got off the couch anyway. "Where upstairs," she asked as she began to climb the stairs.

"Down the hall, to the right, take the first left after that, follow the winding tower to the blue wall...never mind. Just follow me." He said, taking the complicated route to the computer. "Here it is." Again, he just pointed.

"Thanks. What's your name," Zaira asked as she started up the computer. I hope it doesn't have a password, she thought. But like all computers, or at least most, it did. She moved away from the computer and motioned for the man to unlock it.

"Good. You're not stupid enough to hack it." The man walked over and securely typed in his password. "Link."

"Real name, or name change? Pull up the specific problem for me would ya," she ordered. It wasn't her computer so she wouldn't be able to find things easily.

"Yeah." He bent over, fingers flying across the keyboard. It wasn't hard for him to pull it up. "Real name. Parents were natural geeks."

"That's pretty cool. Do you like the name?" Zaira moved back in front of the computer and got to work. It would be awhile if she didn't start immediately.

"Sure." He shrugged.

"How old are you anyway?" Zaira's fingers soared over the keys, creating lines of code one after another.

"Twenty-four."

Zaira chuckled. "You're getting old there...old man."

"Che," he grumbled, standing back and watching her. She was certainly more impressive then he originally expected. "Stupid kid," he mumbled under his breath.

Zaira chuckled again. "So stupid I'm doing your work. Maybe you're losing your touch in old age."

"Teme..." He answered, paying close attention.

"Oyaji," Zaira retorted playfully.

"Nice comeback, kid," he pat her shoulder.

She smirked. "The name is Zaira, not kid."

"Keep working, kid. Hungry?"

"Cup ramen," she asked with a quirked eyebrow, her fingers never leaving the keyboard and eyes never leaving the screen.

"Yakisoba." He nodded, returning downstairs to the kitchen.

"Free noodles and I get paid for being here, not a bad deal," Zaira whispered under her breath.

Someone walked past, quietly walking down the stairs.

Zaira shivered as if someone else was in the house. She shrugged it off continued working.

Link came back up to bring some food to Zaira. "Progress?"

"Some," she answered simply. She took the food with her left hand and kept typing with her right. She was typing slower, but she got to eat.

"Itadakimasu!" Link called before breaking his chopsticks and taking a bite, eyes glued to the computer screen.

"Itadakimasu," Zaira muttered before slurping some noodles out of the cup.

"Hold," he told her. "Press that button," he carefully instructed.

Zaira stopped immediately and pressed the button as directed.

"Hm," he analyzed the data quicker than it was arriving. "You missed the weak point. This here is the problem," he suggested toward a long line of numbers. "This area should be countered."

"Ah." Zaira hadn't even noticed that. _Stupid old man_. "Thanks," she mumbled out.

"Just look for the obvious. It's what you miss."

Zaira laughed nervously. "If it's like that in my programming then I wonder if it's like that in my normal life," she mused.

"Usually," he automatically answered, hearing soft footsteps travel past.

Zaira heard the steps just outside of the room. She looked over at the door, but the figure had already gone past. "Who was that?"

"Who?" He asked with a straight face.

"The person who just walked by," Zaira repeated after she finished off her Yakisoba. "If you don't tell me I'm going to have to go bother that person and find out myself."

"No one walked by." Link said calmly.

"Lying is bad for your health. It makes you look old, although in your case I guess that doesn't matter, huh, Oyaji?"

If this were an anime, his fist would be up in the air, the big angry vein twice the size of his forehead, however, in reality, he had to keep cool. "How much lying you doing? You're looking pretty weak yourself, kid."

"I don't lie, I just don't say things as directly as I should. I take the vague route. Who's the person? At least tell me if it's a guy or girl."

"Just leave the lights on," was all he answered.

"He's your male lover then," Zaira decided on her own.

He sighed. "Don't be in the dark, kid." Maybe she would actually listen, unlike the others.

"Do you know how to set up two guys together? See, I have these friends that obviously like each other, at least to me that's how they look, and I really wanna get them to go out. How should I go about doing it?" Now she was just making bored conversation.

"The classic," the man advised. "Write letters, as the other, and send it off. Tada. They're together." He finished his yakisoba, carefully setting the chopsticks where they belonged. "Cliché, but successful."

"That takes too long," Zaira grumbled. "I think I'm just going to ditch them at a movie theater together...KitKat likes romance movies."

"The other doesn't, I assume."

"I don't know. I really know KitKat well because he is a childhood friend. I just met Kuri recently, but he's very straight-forward and I think he'd be good for KitKat."

"Well, don't force it. That fails." Link switched around in his chair, one leg across it and his other knee leaning against his chest. "I can tell that is not the only thing on your mind, kid."

"Yeah, you're right. You calling me kid is really annoying. I prefer being called Zaira."

"I prefer kid. It's simpler, and dumbed down so even the stupid ones, like you, can understand who I am addressing." He saw them having a good relationship in the future.

"I don't know. I may be oblivious most of the time, but I'm not stupid. There's a huge difference. I'm also not a kid. I'm a teenager."

"You're a kid until you turn senile." He cleverly answered.

"I guess I can't call you kid then. I think I'll stick with Oyaji," Zaira finished with a smirk. This guy wasn't too bad. She was still curious about the person from the hall though.

"Just finish your work." He scolded. "People might worry if it takes too long."

"People might worry that it happens at all," Zaira commented quietly as she began typing with both hands again.

"Parents do that," he assumed.

Zaira groaned quietly. "Not mine. I mean my dad doesn't," she corrected quickly. "I'm sure my mom would worry, but the one who's really worried is..." She thought of Rez, but knew better than to actually talk about her with someone other than Kuri. "My dog Zen. He's such a worry-wart."

"Your _dog_?" Link asked, a little surprised. If it wasn't her parents who were worried, and a dog just seemed too weird to be the whole truth, there was something not being told. "I don't like secrets, kid. I find out sooner rather than later."

"I'm not keeping a secret from you and I'm not lying," Zaira stated matter-of-factly. "If you met him, you wouldn't be so surprised. He's pretty much the only family I have and he knows it. He protects me and keeps me safe."

"I'm a hacker. And I don't hack just computers, kid. So, who is it?" He asked matter-of-factly.

"A very unfriendly friend of mine. I've told you as much about my friend as you have yours. If you want information you have to cough some of your own up."

"I don't have any medicine to cough up," he retorted seamlessly.

Zaira continued to work, unphased by his most recent comment.

A sly smile grew on his face.

Zaira didn't have to be looking to see his smile. "What are you so happy about?"

"You have no counter," was his answer.

"Sadistic old man," Zaira growled. "Is your friend a masochist?"

"What friend?" He asked plainly.

"Housemate," she corrected. "Is your housemate a masochist?"

"Uh...I live _alone_?" He said like she was missing the point.

"Oyaji," Zaira growled. She pushed herself away from the computer and pointed at the screen. "See any errors?"

He reached over to his left, pulling out his glasses. Link scrolled through everything, piecing it bit by bit. He even found it necessary to check four more times. "Hmm...pretty good." There were a couple minor things that wouldn't have really mattered, but was best to fix so there were less glitches. "Almost perfect, kid. More than I expected."

"Just because I'm young that doesn't mean I can do something like this. I wouldn't even be here if I couldn't."

"Best be appreciative. Out of fifty other people, you were the most qualified, and that's not really saying much," he honestly blurted.

Zaira pouted. Sure she was young, but she was good. "Then how come I have to come out here and help you with your job?"

"For training."

"Pfft. Whatever. So long as I get paid I don't care."

"Che...like I would ever pay you, teme." He snorted.

"Baka Oyaji. The Company is paying me, not you. I get another bill-free month," Zaira sighed out a heavenly breath. Having this job was great!

The mysterious footsteps wisped by. "What?" He questioned, knowing he wouldn't like the answer.

"Well, my dad barely sends me enough money for food so I had to look for a job. I worked really hard to get one at CC Corp. After I got accepted I told them about my money situation and they said they would pay my bills instead of paying directly. I have to agree to certain terms though. My bills can't be more than a certain amount, but it is a lot since I'm on the computer all the time. Although, I have to time my showers, do my laundry only a few times per month, buy cheap store brands, shop for disposable plates at the dollar store and other things you do on a tight budget. My electric bill is usually three quarters of the entire cost. It's not so bad. I'm probably going to end up working at CC Corp for the rest of my life, but I love my job anyway so it doesn't really matter to me."

"You wouldn't be able to quit, kid. CC Corp is like smoking, or like when you quit the feds...you're addicted, and they stalk you." And the footsteps returned. But really, they would pay for a kid, but not him? It seemed that they just didn't like him enough, though he had been there since the first alpha of the damn thing came out, and before.

"I wouldn't want to quit anyway. They know that if ever stiff me that they will have a fatal error in 'The World' too." Zaira smiled smugly. She didn't like being lied to. The footsteps where really get on her nerves. "Who is that guy?"

"What guy? There is no guy!"

"Those footsteps are getting really annoying! If there's not a guy, is it a girl, an alligator, or what?"

"What are you talking about?" He cocked an eyebrow. "There is nothing besides me here."

"Oyaji, if you don't tell me then I'll just have to find out myself. You should know that I am a naturally curious person and I tend to have a one-track mind," Zaira growled as she walked toward the door.

A shadow hurried up another flight of stairs, not wanting to be caught.

She ran out of the room and pointed at the stairs. "You're not getting away. I'll find out what you are!"

It continued to run, sneaking around for a place to hide.

Zaira ran up the stairs loudly and looked around.

Link had followed behind, hoping she wouldn't find it. But like always, there was a corner.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Link sighed, knowing it was best just to give up. "Kid, meet my pet. Kitty, meet kid." He went and kneeled down next to Kitty, petting him with a smile. "Kitty's one hundred percent wolf, and as you should know, that is highly illegal, especially without a permit...see why I don't tell?"

Zaira crouched down next to Link and Kitty. "Not at all." She slowly brought her hand up for Kitty to sniff. This reminded her of the first time she ever tried to pet a strange dog. She was stupid and pet it immediately without showing it that she wasn't a threat. If she hadn't been pulled back by her mother then she probably would have been in the hospital. After that she always showed dogs that she wasn't a threat. When she first met Zen he was the perfect street dog. He ended up biting her, but only a light nip. It didn't even leave a mark. "Why did you decide to name it Kitty?"

"You really want to know that?" Link sat down next to Kitty, and she curled up next to him, a failed attempt to curl up in his lap. "Well, my great grandpa originally bought her as a little pup, and at the time he didn't have glasses. So, while wandering around, he assumed he saw a little lost kitty."

And yes, he did say great grandpa. "Surprisingly, she followed him all the way home and he decided to keep her. Kitty grew bigger and bigger until she could barely fit in his house. That's about when he found his glasses and realized it was a full grown adult wolf, not the biggest kitty in the world. Sadly, great gran died, and Kitty didn't want to live without him."

Link scratched her ears and she smiled. "Someone had to take care of her, hide her from being found and them facing jail sentence...They set her free, and she was hit...she even stopped breathing...the vets couldn't really do anything. And the wildlife people announced her dead."

His whole expression changed, face falling into hate. "Then Grandpa came around, looking to hunt her. But a kid got in the way, getting shot instead. Not fatal, but enough to cause excruciating pain...And Kitty stood defensively in front of the kid, almost as if she was telling him to back off, and she was ready to attack...to this day, we're not sure if she actually spoke or not..."

Kitty nuzzled her head against Link's side and he continued to pet her. "A miracle happened and she was alive, more determined and spirited than ever. She never left the kid's side. And then the kid grew up, met a girl, and became my dad. When he died...she was my only protection, and she has always made sure I wasn't ever alone. I swear she wants me to live forever."

Link giggled. "But with everything she survived, it always made me think of cats. One, people say they live forever, or at least their soul and spirit. And two, they have nine lives. She acts so much like a Kitty, and she never really had a name before, except for Blue, because of her eyes. So I renamed her Kitty Blue. That, and she clearly acts like a cat. Never once has she turned on those she cares for."

He looked down at her, remembering every search and rescue that had performed just so they knew she was alright. It always ended up that she had gotten slightly lost and couldn't find her way home. Kitty always followed them home. "So she hasn't exactly been in the same family, but I'll be damned if I pass her off to another family. She will be alive if I have kids, and will protect those I trust."

So many battles, yet she was still here, alive and well, seeming younger every time while growing mature emotionally. "It's okay, Kitty. This is a friend of mine. She's helping me with the game." Link's orange eyes locked on Zaira. "Go ahead and pet her now. She has one of her toys over there if you are interested. When I am busy, I just give her some yarn and she's happy." That story was a secret he had never revealed to anyone. "And never, I mean, never mention a thing about this. Not even her name or that there is an animal. I live alone, and that's the end of it, understand? Otherwise you are off and I will personally make sure CC Corp fires you."

Zaira smiled. "I won't tell anyone about Kitty Blue. By the by, CC Corp wanted me to deliver a message to you." Zaira cleared her throat to attempt to sound more professional. "From now on, you will be working with young Miss Zaira Abella Cote, developing code and helping her become a more mature member of CC Corp. Then they went on with their fact be well wishes or whatever. Sorry Oyaji, looks like you'll be stuck with me for a while."

Zaira pet Kitty much like Link did. She had to scratch hard to get the feeling past all that fur. "Oh yeah, do you have an account in 'The World'?"

Kitty did the equivalent of purring. "Of course. How can a programmer, who alphaed the game, not be a part of it? As for being stuck with you, no way, no how, kid. I don't do that sorta thing anymore."

"They are orders from CC Corp. I can't help it if they want us to work together. Plus, that means I get to come over and see Kitty more," she added with a chuckle.

"Self taught then. I don't ever take on kids. Not in a long time." He would be talking with CC Corp about this, no doubt.

"I'm not a kid and did you forget that I did most of the work for you. Think of it as getting a day off or something."

"Yeah, that's all. I promised one day, and nothing else. They know I don't train kids like I used to." Kitty rubbed against his cheek, hoping he would continue to be happy.

"I'm not a kid! And you aren't even training me, you're just checking to make sure I don't make mistakes in the program. Eventually you won't even need to do that. Honestly, you're being too difficult," just like someone else I know, she added in thought.

"It's still teaching. I don't like the need to correct things." His own programs were perfect, down to the very last piece of data. He never had to look at the same program twice. Only with others was it necessary, and as stated, there was no way he would do that, even if CC Corp issued the order.

"Fine! Then next time, I won't make any mistake," Zaira declared. "I'm going to make it perfect. Then you won't even have to look over it." Her eyes glowed with determination. She would defiantly do it. She would make her next one so perfect that he would bow down in awe of her amazing skill. "How about that?"

"By rules, I need to," he stated. "I can show you if you don't believe me."

Zaira growled. She was fighting a losing battle. Then an idea struck her like a boot to the head. "The rules also say you can't have a one-hundred percent wolf. Plus, glancing while I'm working is pretty damn close to looking over it when I'm done except it is more efficient and less time consuming."

"And what about KitKat, hm? Now that I know a name, I could hack in and screw up his entire account, and yes, it could potentially lead to a coma once he logs on after I am done," Link grinned. No matter what she countered with, he would do one better.

Zaira smiled. "Then you'll have to deal with the wrath of Kuri." She shivered. "You...really shouldn't do that," she said with little energy. The thought of Anthony hearing about this would defiantly be the death of this programmer. "Seriously, he might kill you..."

"You talking about Kusari? I already know her. We run dungeons all the time. How do you think she is the level that she is, and so well known?" That would sure crush the girl's spirit.

Zaira waved her hand. "Then you know that you shouldn't piss her off. She can be really scary. Have you ever met her in real life. He is very protective."

"Kid, obviously you have no idea who I am." He scoffed. Link was more important to Kusari in the game, as he was in real life.

"Oyaji, obviously you have never caused trouble for someone he loves." Zaira turned pale. She was calm at the time, but she was really scared shitless when Anthony went off at her the first time they met. She gulped. "Tis not a pretty penny," she muttered.

"He isn't able to go off in my presence," Link said as if he were better than she was.

Zaira sighed. "You're just not getting it. Have you ever met anyone you would do anything for? You would give up everything just to make that person happy. The one you love, the one you want to spend the rest of your life with."

Link chuckled darkly. "Why is any of that your business?" _This is why I don't work with kids. We just don't see eye to eye._

"Because it applies to our current conversation," Zaira said matter-of-factly. "If the person I loved was in danger, I would fuck all of my current friends over for that person in a heartbeat. I wouldn't even have to think about it. I know Kusari would do the same because it is an instinct, not a thought."

"And if he didn't kill you for doing that to Kane, then I would kill you," she growled fiercely. Nobody would hurt her friends as long as she considered them as one.

"You still don't know. Hm…just like him to keep secrets. Surely your other friend knows."

"What do you mean? What is it that you all know?"

"Ah, so he hasn't even told _her_." Link's personality had completely changed from the initial meeting. Once he actually got to talking, he was different. "Kusari can't go against me because I am a creator. And you want to know reality?" He assumed the answer would be yes. "In reality, I am his loving uncle, teaching him things his own father never had the chance to. At times, it's so sweet to hear him call me big brother, since we are somewhat close in age. And on top of that, I am the main reason he can offer the girl so much, yet, the reason it'll be harder for her to succeed."

He could only be referring to Rez. She glared at him. If he was making things difficult for her beloved Rez, then she would change that. Rez was the only person that could make her jump off the school and she was the only person she would risk everything for, even if that meant facing the expectations of her father. Even if that meant, becoming the little girl she used to be.

Zaira's face became expressionless. "Make it easy for her and I'll do whatever you want, even quit CC Corp," she demanded.

"Now this is interesting. You were so eager to become a student for CC Corp, and now, you've completely changed your mind? Is it wise to change so quickly, especially in front of Anthony's big brother?"

Zaira continued to stare at Link with the same emotionless face. "I haven't changed at all. The situation has changed. I also never said that I wanted to be a CC Corp student, I just needed the money. You make things tough for the person I care about most and I'd give anything to make her happy."

"Even though she doesn't feel the same?" He would make both their lives a living hell now. He knew information Zaira really shouldn't have given him. Knowing the girl was bad enough, but actually caring for her, valuing her happiness over Zaira's own? No, he couldn't ever forgive that. Nerezza was destined to be alone, and he would make it so.

Zaira chuckled sadly. "I already know that she hates me, but I can't help wanted to make her smile. She always seems sad, even if she hates me, I want her to be happy. Everyone deserves that much."

"Every wish requires compensation. You'll have to pay a hefty price." At least he honestly cared about what she would lose if she followed through.

"I'm already quitting my job and leaving you the hell alone," Zaira said matter-of-factly.

"You'll be followed everywhere in the game, and possibly in real life. You could be kidnapped, or put into a coma if they feel the need." No kid should ever be forced to go through that.

"Fine. Do whatever the hell you want with me, but I give you three conditions. 1) Rez must become happy. 2) If something does happen to me, make sure Zen gets to go to a good loving home and not the pound. And 3) Set Kusari and KitKat on a date."

Link smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sorry, I cannot comply."

"And why the hell not! I'm giving my life for three sentimental things that won't cost you any money at all. I don't see why that isn't a fair trade."

"I do not go out of my way to make people happy. To make her happy, I would need to kill her. As for your dog, I would technically be trespassing, especially if I don't have permitted access. And setting up a date, no way. I don't interfere with people like that, in-game or otherwise." He shot down her easy chances.

"Then why the hell would I give you anything..."

"I will be willing to take _something_."

"If you don't give me something then you're not getting jack shit!"

"I'll make it easier, yes, but I will not let her by with a free pass."

"When I first met you, I thought you were a perv, because you answered the door naked and that's just wrong, but then you put some clothes on and we got to talking, you seemed like a really cool guy, nice too. Now I see you for what you truly are. You are 100% asshole.

"And I'm very disappointed in you Kitty Blue. Animals are supposed to have good instincts, but you like a bastard like this. I like you, but the choice you made to have your current owner lacks thought. He's an asshole and a user that hates the world and takes it out on anyone he can wrap his devil claws around. If I wasn't in love with his niece I probably would have killed him by now.

"And you, uncle Oyaji, why don't you want your niece to be happy?"

Kitty Blue growled, fangs being shown. "Don't attack. She is your friend, Kitty. Treat her as such." She glared for a minute before calming down again. "It's not that I don't. She's just hated everything for a long time. Only Anthony can get through to her, even though I practically helped raise her. Once she got older, she started to despise me, and only clung to her real beloved brother."

Link sighed. "I know I am an ass sometimes. I just don't like to meddle. The only thing I'm going against is the deal. I'm making it harder so maybe she could grow up, actually accept that she needs help. I may be an ass, but some of my intentions aren't as bad as you think."

Zaira laughed and her expression relaxed a little. "You may think you are helping, but you aren't. You can't force someone to call for help. When someone pushes you up against the wall, you have to options. Call for a stranger who probably won't do anything for you or push back. She's the type to push back. She'll keep pushing even when it's hopeless. The only way she will learn is if somebody teaches her.

"I am the type of person who calls for someone to maybe help. I might be able to take down my attacker, but I was taught to call for help. My mom told me to call for help when I might need it, not when I need it or else. It's better if she is taught the same thing by someone. I'm not a stranger, but I will go to her when she calls for help.

"Also, if you keep pushing her against the wall, I'm going to smack you over the head with a 2-by-4 whether she calls for help or not. It's not up the person getting pushed to decide who does or doesn't help her. It's up to the people closest to her."

Sure, she had her points. However, he understood how she worked. There was a time to stop pushing and give up, or enlist trust in someone else. But, this kid seemed so eager to help his niece, he was too weak to turn her away. "Alright, kid. I'll agree to your three terms. You understand what quitting CC Corp means, right?"

Zaira smirked. "Sorry. I changed my mind. I'd rather make an enemy out of you. You are not the type of person I thought you were. I'm going to help Rez on my own...with the help of my friends too I guess. You can do whatever you want to stop me, but I'm definitely going to make her happy, whether you like it or not." Zaira's smirk turned into a smile. "I'm a complete idiot you know," she informed him.

She walked into the hall and stopped at the top of the stairs. "Since my work here is done, I'll be leaving. I won't tell anybody about Kitty Blue because I like her."

Link's eyes widened. "Is that wise, kid? I could make it a smooth ride for your friend. She would be popular in no time, and Kusari would have to hand over the prize to her."

Zaira's smile grew wider. "In case you haven't noticed, everyone is falling in love with Prince Lyall. He is already well on his way to being popular. Plus, he has me by his side, even though he doesn't like it, and I know a thing or two about making friends," she said with a wink.

"Fine, kid. If that is your choice, I'll let it go. But I'll expect to see you back for the next program, and it better be damned perfect. It gets annoying otherwise." He stood up, Kitty rubbing against Zaira's legs, almost knocking her over with pure size.

Zaira held onto the wall to keep from falling over. Kitty wasn't even using any of her strength. "It will be. Don't you worry about that." She gave Kitty one last scratch behind the ears and went downstairs to grab her bag. She looked up at the clock and sighed. _12:23 already_, she thought. "Wish me luck getting home. You know, hope there are no rapist or murderers out there. See ya next time," she laughed as she headed toward the door.

"You really going by yourself, kid? It's not safe around here, you should know. How about I set up something special?"

"It's okay. I've caused you enough trouble for today. I'm also a lot stronger than I look," she said with a sly smile.

"Oh, but it's one anyone would be wise to accept."

"I told you upstairs that I was a complete idiot," Zaira reminded him.

"Ah, but it's the special Night Kitty Express. Can't pass it up, even if you are a complete idiot." He smiled, joining her by the door.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

She giggled. "The special Night Kitty Express?"

"Yeah, it's quite the treat if I do say so myself. No one is awake to notice, so step out and I'll show you." Kitty followed him cheerfully outside.

Zaira followed out the door behind Kitty. She seemed to be really happy.

"Go ahead," he told her.

Kitty Blue jumped up, wings appearing on her back, as she grew larger in size as well. "She is only able to do this once a month, sometimes once a week if she is really healthy and willing. Of course, she can show, but performs the one time. This would be her second time this month. It's quite the gift alright. Only for those she bonds."

"W-wow," Zaira breathed out. Not only was she breathless because of this beauty, but she didn't want to be loud and ruin it. "Are you sure it's okay," she asked excitedly. This is the coolest thing in the universe, even if he doesn't let me ride the Night Kitty Express, she thought.

"I don't mind, but even if I did, it's Kitty's decision, and she wants to make sure you get home safely." Link softly smiled, looking up at his wondrous beauty.

Kitty nodded, coming down just above the ground so Zaira could climb on. "And there is another little surprise when you climb on."

"What kind of surprise," Zaira said ecstatically as she hopped on.

"Kitty?" Link raised an eyebrow at her. She nodded and smiled.

"Can you hear me?" Kitty spoke right into Zaira's mind.

Zaira smiled. "That is so cool," she sighed out.

"That's your reaction?" Kitty Blue dead-panned. She was at least expecting a gasp of wonder, or questions being flown left, right, up and down. But to receive only a sigh was a bit disappointing, to say the least.

"That is my outer reaction," Zaira stated matter-of-factly. "Inner me was freaking out. I made that sigh because if I didn't then my head probably would have exploded."

Link sighed. "Really, kid?" He ran a hand through his hair. "Just freak out."

"We won't tell," Kitty smiled. Like she would tell anyone. And he sure as hell had no one to gossip to, especially not about Kitty.

Zaira smiled. "Too late, I already recovered from any kind of shock I was in and I can't fake it because that would be a form of lying. I don't lie. Although, it is completely awesome that you speak to my mind directly. Oh! Can you read my thoughts too! That would be super special awesome," she cheered.

"After a while. She can read emotion, but it takes a lot of time to have that deep of a connection with someone."

"Years," Kitty finished.

"That's probably for the better," Zaira said. "I mean, I'm not even to sure what goes on in my mind when I'm not playing 'The World' or doing homework."

"Probably that girl," Link back-handed in a know-it-all smirk. Kitty side-glanced him.

"What was that," Zaira asked as if she was snapped out of her thoughts.

"What was what?" Link asked stupidly, blinking his eyes. Kitty's grin widened.

Zaira pointed toward him as if she was pointing at invisable words. "What do you mean what was what? I mean what you just said. What was that?"

"I didn't say anything," he lied fantastically.

Kitty hovered silently, shaking her head.

Zaira eyed him suspiciously. Now wasn't the time to be arguing with an old man. It was past midnight. "Whatever," she scoffed.

"Yeah, exactly the point."

"It's past midnight. Can I go home now," she whined.

"Sure, sure," Link nodded, giving Kitty the go ahead.

"Be back soon. Hang on tight," she communicated to Zaira.

"Is there any other way to hang on," Zaira asked sarcastically. "Sorry. I get sarcastic when I'm tired."

Link stopped himself from commenting. His eyes narrowed towards Kitty and she nodded, taking off in the direction of Zaira's home. "Stay low," Kitty whispered in Zaira's mind.

"Okay," Zaira yawned out. She layed down on top of Kitty, being sure that she wouldn't hurt the magical wolf. "This low enough," she asked sarcastically.

"Yeah," she instantly replied. There was no telling what would happen if they were seen.

Zaira yawned and rubbed her eyes. It was about noon and she finally decided to get up. She stretched to wake up her sleeping muscles and a thought suddenly struck her. "Lyall never got his hunting license...oops. I hope he's still level 49," she said doubtfully. Knowing Rez, she was probably leveling her character up all weekend. "Ugh...she's probably still really mad at me for the other day."

She hopped down the stairs quickly with Zen faithfully following behind her. He picked up his food bowl and handed it to his master. "Why thank you my good man," she said with a false British accent. "You know Zen," Zaira said as she poured the correct amount of food into the bowl. "I met a very interesting person yesterday with a very interesting pet. She was very loyal and protective, a lot like you." Zen ignored her babbling and ate his breakfast.

Zaira poked his shoulder to get his attention and when he looked at her she continued, "I think you two would get along magnificently."

The dog grunted, barked and went back to his food.

"Sometimes, you can be so rude," Zaira huffed. She grabbed an apple out of the fridge and ran upstairs. "I'll be on the computer. Bark wildly if someone comes near the house," she shouted as she plopped into her computer chair.

Kitty Blue had returned home safely. She was now curled up next to her owner, calm and happy as ever. A sudden movement stirred her awake, immediately jumping to call. "Huh?" Link stumbled after her. A soft knock on the door. He cautiously approached the door, shirtless once again, not able to even guess who would visit him.

"I need a favor," the man on the otherside shyly whispered.

Link smirked his plotting smirk, and motioned for him to come inside. "Long time no see."

Rez's eyes fluttered open to the sweet chirping of birds surrounding her. It was often on the weekends when she lost track of time, and merely estimated time by the position of the sun. "Midday?" She screamed. Oh man, the library was open hours ago! She could've been leveling. That was it. She needed to level, and fast.

Hastily, the girl jumped down, landing awkwardly on all fours, grabbing her bag in the same swift movement before taking off like a racecar pumped up on nitro. Of course, she almost caused several sidewalk incidents, but managed to make it to the library in one piece.

Until she was reminded of it being the weekend, when the library was only open for a few hours. "Oh man! Totally missed a day. I'll just have to make up for it. Tomorrow, I work twice as hard." And that meant dying many times in the process of killing monsters ten times her current level.

In the middle of her raving, there was a vibration coming from her back pocket. "Email?" No one talked to her, especially in the afternoons. " 'Gonna be out for awhile, just stay out of mom's wrath zone' ?" She sighed. "Ni-chan left me...again. And I still don't have my damn journal!"

Nera was so enraged she stomped all the way to Zaira's house, plotting to demand something outrageous; Something so outrageous, she hadn't even thought of it yet. "OPEN UP!" Her fists threw back and forth against the door. Goddess knows Zen was probably throwing a fit.

But what if she didn't want to talk? What if Zaira was so angry at her that she would demand never to see her again?

The fists fell, and all was quiet. Her head hung down low, feeling her stomach turn in ways she didn't understand, making her feel sick and disgusted. She was better off leaving anyway. Her enraged fit shouldn't have brought her here to begin with.

Zaira bit into her apple with a growl before standing up. "I didn't even get to turn the computer on..." She hopped down the stairs again and moved Zen away from the door as she opened it. "I don't wanna buy anything or join you cult, I mean reli," she froze as she realized just who exactly was standing in front of her and the apple fell to the floor. "Rez! What are you doing here?"

"Uh..." Rez staggered to think of a quick excuse. "Perhaps you are someone who needs to be saved by the grace of God," she spat out questioningly, pulling the matching pamphlet from her ripped the pamplet out of Nerezza's hand and tossed it to the side. "Don't joke like that. Those people can be really freaky," she added shakily. "You gonna answer my question?"

Zaira ripped the pamplet out of Nerezza's hand and tossed it to the side. "Don't joke like that. Those people can be really freaky," she added shakily. "You gonna answer my question?"

"What question?" Her head still hung down.

"Why are you here," she said slowly so that other girl could understand.

Nera didn't know what to do. Why was she here? "Uh...not really..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

"Well...since you're here, why not share some cake with me!" Zaira pulled Rez inside and pushed her into a chair. "I bet you want a huge piece," she said jokingly.

"Sure..." Well, wasn't it the norm to eat away depression? Being forced into the chair wasn't really appreciated though.

Zaira gasped. "You want to eat? Who are you and where is my Rez." Zaira blushed and fixed her statement. "I mean, the Rez I know never eats and she especially hates it when I force her to eat." I'm such an idiot, Zaira thought.

Nera didn't even notice. "Make up your damn mind!" Her fists flew at the table with no warning. And she could feel the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. It was just frustration irritating her, that was all.

Zaira made a sharp sqeaking noise. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." She cut herself off before she said something else to set her friend off. She looked at the ground and shuffled her feet nervously. I knew it, she's still mad at me, she thought.

Rez shook her head. She knew it was wrong to take her problems out on someone else, let alone the table. She sat in silence trying not to cry. "My journal," whispered between her lips.

"I...I told you. Ask your brother for it back," she lied weakly.

That's all she wanted. "He gave it away..." She mumbled.

"Eh?" Zaira looked up from the ground to see Rez on the verge of tears. She began to quietly panic, but her personality couldn't let that last very long. "Wha-What's wrong? Are you okay? I'm sorry for the cake thing," she said quickly. "I didn't really mean it and..uh...don't cry okay. I'll be right back." Zaira sprinted up to her room, only tripping on the stairs once. She scanned her bookshelf for the journal and pulled it out carefully when she found it. After tripping down the stairs she slide the book across the kitchen table to Rez. "I'm sorry! I only read a little bit." Zaira wasn't going to tell Nerezza that she had been tempted by the devil, a.k.a. Anthony. "I know it was wrong, but I wanted to know more about you and seeing as how you never talk about yourself I took it, but then I started feeling really guilty and I chickened out," she explained giving herself barely enough pause to breath.

The sad part was she couldn't find the strength to care right now. Of course this would probably cause a hell storm later on, but Anthony's betrayal was at the front of her mind.

Her shaking hands grasped the spine snaking around the cover and holding it to her chest as if it were her lifeline. "Zaira?" Her voice wavered.

"Y-yes," Zaira answered shakily.

"Embrace me." This was the first time in a long time she sought someone else's comfort.

Zaira's face turned bright red. "What?"

"Embrace me...please," she subtly begged.

Nera's entire body shuddered, relaxing to the point where it felt like she didn't have any bones. "Thank you," she whispered, wrapping a hand around Zaira's arm.

"Uh, yeah. Sure," Zaira muttered. "Aren't you...mad at me though? I stole your diary and even read some of it."

"...don't care," she mumbled. "It's not like you ransacked my room and stole it." No, only Anthony would do something like that and never feel an ounce of guilt. The first tear fell, that was enough for her to fall apart, the journal slipping out of her grasp, hitting the hard floor. It's pages opened; Rez fell out of the chair, turning to hide herself in Zaira's chest. This was pathetic, childish, and immature. Seeing it from the outside, she felt disgusted and her stomach flipped twice as much. "Why does he betray me?"

"Huh? Who? Anthony?"

She nodded. "I'm sure he hates me. And you hate me, too."

"What are you talking about? He's your brother! Plus, I like, I mean...If I didn't like you then I wouldn't even look at you." Zaira moved her hand to Nerezza's chin and lifted it so they were looking into each others eyes. "And I'm clearly looking at you."

More tears gathered, glossing her eyes over tell she couldn't see until she blinked, letting them fall down her cheek. "Doesn't stop people from hating family." Her cheeks grew a rosy color when they locked gazes. "But I'm full of flaws! Why would anyone clearly look at something so ugly?" She glanced away and down.

"You're not ugly. And everyone has flaws. Take me for example. I'm an idiot who doesn't think of the consequnces and always does what I want. I smile, even when I'm sad. If anyone here is ugly, then it would be me. I lie...a lot more than I should...and I hate myself for doing it...but that doesn't keep me from doing it more."

Rez dropped to her knees. "Maybe that's why you hate me," she mumbled towards the floor.

"What part of 'I don't hate you' don't you understand," Zaira yelled as she kneeled down.

"It's okay. I appreciate honesty. No need to lie to me anymore." Zaira could stop this cherade. Nera knew she didn't really care about making her eat, or trying to make her feel happier. It wasn't possible for anyone to care, really.

Zaira growled. "That' not what I meant when I said I was lying. I want to tell you, but...damn it," Zaira cursed as she brought her hand up the her forehead, giving it a good smack. "To you...I only lied once, about how I got Zen, but I always felt that keeping a secret is like lying too. I have one of those and I told your brother the other day. I don't want anyone to know, but...I want you to know everything."

"You told my brother? If you were so set on caring, why not trust me more than him?" Wrong thing to say at this point. "I'm honest with you, and I don't even need to talk to you! Tell me the truth to all your lies, or I walk and you never see me again." Anything could have happened, anything except for lying, and she would have been fine.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to hate me. Remember how I got mad at you for not trusting me with the hack I did. Well, CC Corp kinda, sorta, pays me to do them. I'm not sure why I didn't want to tell you. If word in 'The World' got out about it then everyone would think that my entire character is a hack, which it's not, and I'd probably get fired. Actually now that I think about it...I probably just should have told you when I told your brother. I'm not even sure why I was so worried before. Then again, I am an idiot," she rambled. "That's all. I don't hate you and it's not like I don't trust you, I just...I just don't want you to hate me more than you already do."

"Don't worry. It's not hate. But..." What was the word for that? Disappointment? "For some reason, I'm upset that you lied, and I'm upset that he hid everything from me." At least now she knew why Kusari had blocked Lyall. "What am I to you?" Nera needed to know. "Just another friend? Only a partner to level with until you're max level? Perhaps as low as just another face to forget about..." She had stopped realizing she was talking aloud. "That happens alot. With my own mother...and maybe Ni-chan, too. It's harder to contact him, and Zaira...you just confuse me. I'm confused with everything in my mind. More emotions than words, and my stomach makes me sick..."

And the journal. Part of it had been read. She was left naked in front of someone she didn't really know yet. Weaknesses could have been exposed, fears she could never overcome. "Why did he do that?" She pinned Zaira to the ground below her, not offensively. There was just so much she wasn't understanding, and having at least a little control of something, Zaira at the moment, would hopefully help her calm down some. "Why would he leave me naked like that? Secrets even he doesn't know...I wrote them to forget, and now..."

Too many memories flashed like an old movie, re-runs she had seen enough of. "They never let me forget...the dogtag, and that screaming child," her teeth clenched. Cries of the young toddler filled her head. "Shut it up! Someone needs to make it stop!" She yells to the helpless child, dirty and abandoned. "She just needs a pair of arms to feel safe in..."

The baseball bat of reality hit her in the head. And fear of being lonely and abandoned again took over her mind. "Don't leave." She curled up on Zaira. "Please, don't leave me alone. I need you. I need you..." She desperately needed the warmth of another person. Zaira's heartbeat was enough to calm her breathing, calming her thoughts and clearing her mind a bit. "Z-Zai..." Nera stumbled, looking into her eyes.

Another emotion took over, hell if she could figure out which one, and her lips wrapped around Zaira's.

Zaira's eyes widened in both shock and surprise. She wanted this, but she felt something else inside. Something was telling her that this, what was happening right now, no matter how good it felt, it was wrong. Zaira pushed Nerezza away lighty, being sure not to be rough or come off as not wanting the action. "I won't leave you," she whispered quietly. "But you can't do those kinds of things. You're confused and it doesn't feel right. I'm sorry for lying, but I was scared. I didn't know what to do and I made a stupid decision."

"Yeah..." Nerezza stared at the floor from a kneeled position, sliding around until she slumped to her feet, barely able to stand, though feeling the urge to wander. Armed with nothing but her confusion, the girl started walking. Where? She couldn't have told you.

"It's fine. Not the first time someone was scared of me. Not the first time I've been rejected, either...It's alright. I'll be fine," she rambled out.

Zaira jumped up and moved in her way. "That's not what I meant," she said with a heavy blush. "I like you and I mean I really, really like you, but I don't want to end up taking advantage of you and have you hate me in the end for it. I'm not scared of you either, just so you know."

"Then read this!" She screamed tearfully holding the journal for Zaira's taking. "If you had the nerve to even read one page, then you have the strength to read all of it! Right? If you really want to know me..." Rez paused for a breath, shaking. "If you're that curious, read every single word I've written from my soul. Carry my spirit's burdens. Can you handle that kinda of pain?"

The world on your shoulders, and Murphy's Law following you around like a ghost with a vengeance. She could barely handle it, so how would someone on the outside looking in handle it?

Zaira smiled and gently lifted the book from her friends hand. "Since you give me permission," _and your practically begging me to_, she added in thought. "I'll read it. I'd rather you tell me about yourself on your own, but if you insist then I'll start reading immediately. On one condition: You have to sit right across from me while I'm reading."

"Fine." She said in shock. Her sub-conscience screamed to argue the opposite, to take it all back and burn the journal, but it was too late. Her lips had already made the decision.

"Okay then." Zaira ruffled Rez's hair in a kind manor. "Would you like something to eat or drink or a pack of cards to entertain yourself with?"

"Just water." Her stomach couldn't handle anything right now.

Zaira pulled a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water from the sink. "I hope tap water is okay. I ran out of bottled water a long time ago and haven't had enough cash to get more." She set the diary down on the table. "You sure you want me to read this. It's not to late to take it away."

She shook her head. "Get it over with. You already know part of it, so why not read the whole thing? Have my entire being exposed."

Zaira blushed, thinking of a more perverted meaning to her sentance. That kiss really did a number on her. "I just want to make sure that you are sure."

"Well, no, I'm not sure, but might as well, ya know?"

Zaira let out a heavy sigh and tossed the book in front of Rez. "I'm not reading it until your one hundred percent sure, got it?" Zaira took a quick second to think about everything that had happened since Rez opened up. She had mentioned something about her brother. "You were saying some stuff about your brother earlier. What did he do? I won't tell anyone, so...talk to me."

"Nothing, now just read the damn thing already. You want to know right?" She pushed the book further towards Zaira.

"You also mentioned your mother. I think that's the first time...maybe the second. Right now, I want you to talk to me. Forget about the damn diary."

"Then make me talk." She would have to make this harder than it should be. Maybe it would teach Zaira a lesson.

"I can't make you talk." Zaira feel into a calm silence. It wasn't enough to unnerve herself, but it was enough for it to be earily quiet.

"Then you are telling me you don't care enough to try." Nera took back her journal and crossed her arms. "Make up your mind on whether you care or not."

"I do care. I want to know what's on your mind."

"Then make me talk."

"I can't make you talk. You have to do it of your own free will."

"I can go around in circles with this all day. If you can't make me talk, than you just don't care enough."

"It's because I care that I won't force you. It may be confusing to you, but it's how I work."

The house phone began ringing and Zaira stood up to get it. "Cote Residence, Zaira Abella Cote speaking," she answered proffessionaly. A look of pure shock pastered itself on her face. "Dad! Why are you calling?" A moment of silance passed. "Y-you are...When?" ... "I'll have everything ready for you when you get home then, sir." After hearing the dial tone Zaira hung up. She slowly shuffled back to the table and placed her head on her folded arms.

"Well, sounds like you don't have to care so much. Have fun with 'Dear old daddy'," she grasped the journal and strode to the door, hand on the handle.

"I'm sorry," Zaira whisper quietly. All the energy she had suddenly drained out of her when she heard her father's voice on the other end of the phone. It sounded just as cold and distant as ever.

"Yeah, sure you are." Nerezza left it at that, pulling a hood over her face and closing the door behind her. Perhaps she wouldn't have to come back.

Zaira was a complete idiot...


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Zaira slid into her chair, barely remembering to fix her skirt so that boys couldn't look up it. Her father was supposed to be home sometime late tonight. She spent all afternoon yesterday preparing for him. She had to wash his sheets, do any laundry she had forgotten to do, replace any shoes that looked like the needed replacing, cleaning the entire house, hiding the bills and other money/tax stuff in her secret hiding place and many other things. She couldn't remember everything she did. It was too much. She barely got any sleep. Hello eyelids, she thought as she closed her eyes for a moment as she leaned back in her chair.

Nerezza silently walked in, surprisingly on time for a Monday. She took the path to her seat, wandering through like a ghost. Her figure slumped in the chair unnoticed and ignored. Almost back to normal.

Zaira wasn't completely asleep, but she was far from being awake. Random thoughts flew by in her head. I hope my neck doesn't get stiff from the way I'm sitting right now. I wonder if Nerezza is going to be here today. I hope my dad comes home and leaves immediately. I don't want him sticking around for too long with his strict attitude and what-not. Without her knowing, her face became slightly twisted with anger and annoyance.

Nera stared at her journal she had been clinging to. No one else would get a hold of it if she had it 24/7. And nobody would make her talk.

Now that Zaira's precious father was coming back, she wouldn't be bothering her anymore. Nera wouldn't have to eat or drink or be exposed or feel confused.

...So if it would end up so dandy, why did she find her gaze wandering over towards the napping girl?

Zaira was currently thinking about panda bears. There were just so soft and cuddly and rare. They reminded her of someone. The panda she had been hugging had turned itself into Nerezza. _"You! Why are you here?"_

_"You think I'm like a panda," the dream Rez growled out._

_"Um," Zaira chuckled nervously. "Well, your skin is soft, I want to cuddle you and you are the only you which makes you rare so...uh, in that sense, yeah...I guess you are like a panda."_

_Somewhere along Zaira's little speech Rez had gotten a panda suit on._

Zaira's face turned into a smile. "Panda Rez," she whispered quietly aloud.

Nera overheard, hoping no one else had noticed what was just said. Her cheeks turned bright red as she tried to hide before anything else happened.

_I'll get you for that_, she angrily thought.

_"I'm not a panda," Rez shouted as her panda suit exploded off of her. Now she was in a girl's school uniform._

_"School girl Rez is cute too ya know," she said jokingly._

_Rez looked down at her attire and growled. "What's wrong with you?"_

_"It's your fault for kissing me yesterday."_

_"Yeah, well, you're an idiot. Sleeping in class. What's your dad going to say?"_

Zaira's expression become gloomy and she reluctantly brought herself back to full consciousness. She looked next to her to see Nerezza. "Good morning," she said groggily.

Nera turned her head and ignored the greeting. Things would have to go back to normal, even if she had to force them to. "Morning," she still answered in return.

"Did I miss anything," she asked as she let out a long yawn.

Nera didn't look at her. "No," she answered blankly.

Zaira smiled happily. "Good." _Is it just me or are things a little awkward_, she thought to herself.

Nerezza propped her head up with her hand. "Yeah."

"Is something wrong Rez?" Zaira tried to pull her most innocent looking face, although since she was sleepy it probably didn't look very good...or innocent.

Nera glanced over, quickly returning to her blank stare in seconds, saying nothing.

"Tell me what's wrong," Zaira demanded in a gentle manner.

"Nothing."

"Please tell me what's wrong," she asked sweetly.

"Panda," Zaira said with a furrowed brow. Could she have been talking in her sleep? That does seem like something she would do. "Well, you're uh..." She didn't really want to explain, it was too embarrassing. She took in a deep breath and with a bright red blush said, "You're rare and cuddly...like a panda."

"Uh-huh," she didn't believe a word. Not only that, but being rare and cuddly disgusted her.

"Is that a bad thing," Zaira asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Nera stared down at her desk, closing her eyes with a sigh. "...not," she inaudibly mumbled under her breath. She doubted that anyone heard what she said.

Zaira watched as Rez's chin moved a little bit. "Did you say something?" She highly doubted Rez would tell her even if she had said something, but it's always good to ask.

She shook her head. _I guess not_, it was easier to think rather than saying aloud.

"You're acting really weird today Rez. I know it's not just the panda thing either. What's wrong?" Zaira wasn't the brightest bulb, but she wasn't the dimmest either. It was obvious that something was bothering her.

"Normality?" There was nothing wrong with her. She was the same as she always was.

"Does this have something to do with my dad," Zaira guessed. It was really the only thing that had changed recently.

She shrugged. "Normality was my answer. I'm fine." Nera growled through her teeth.

Zaira furrowed her brow. "You're obviously not fine. You're frickin' growling at me!"

"That's NORMAL for me, Zai!" She slammed her fists on the desk, immediately grabbing the attention of everyone. As she should have, Nerezza ran out of the room. There was nothing bothering her. She was doing just fine. Nothing was wrong...even though her brother had abandoned her, as she saw it, and Zaira would become happy now that her dad would be back. Neither of them needed her company. Her existence was better left off in the forest, like it used to be, un-noticed and un-important.

Maybe she should go back to hiding away and jumping off roofs. Or better yet, she would just get everything over with and jump in front of a train. That was real common these days, right? People not paying attention while walking on the tracks and train comes before they know it. What a way to go, though. No, she was hoping more like dramatically sacrificing herself to protect the earth or something. But whatever happened, she was better off alone.

Zaira ran out of thee room after Nerezza. What had changed? Her father coming back, but what did that mean to Rez? Why was she so mad about something stupid like that? It's not like Zaira wanted her dad there. Hopefully he would do what he wanted to do and then be gone for good. She wasn't ever that lucky though. She would have to be careful.

"Rez," she shouted. "Hold on a minute! Please talk to me," Zaira begged.

She kept running, not sure where she was going, and before she knew it, she ran into the tree, getting knocked down and slightly losing reality, but quickly coming back and leaning face forward against the tree. Nera was losing it as she felt cold tears fall down her cheeks. Her fists connected with the tree, opening wounds from the harsh bark, and tiredly falling to the ground, digging into the grass.

"Rez," Zaira said sadly when she caught up with her. "Why don't you just talk to me?" She crouched down next to Nerezza and when she saw the tears she immediately pulled her into a hug. "You don't have to be alone anymore Rez. Let me help you. I want to...I want to do everything in my power to make you happy so please...talk to me."

"Normality," she whispered out, voice hoarse and wary.

"There's no such thing as normality because everything is always changing," Zaira said. "And what's so normal about your life, especially since I jumped into it," she muttered.

Her hands grasped Zaira's shoulders, pulling her unconsciously closer. "Don't leave," she whispered under her breath.

"Not ever," she replied with a soft smile. "I'm all yours."

"But your dad...and Ani, too...I'm more alone than before..."

"What about my dad? He's a jerk," Zaira stated plainly. "I want him to hurry up and leave before...I just don't want him around," she finished.

"What?" Evidently she had a different point of view.

"Yeah, my dad's kind of an asshole. That's why I had to send you home the other day. If he finds out that I did something I wasn't supposed to he'll," she paused for a split second. "Stay even longer and I really don't want that. But after he's gone I can't go through things like I normally do."

"But...What would he do?" She questioned, suddenly noticing the slight pause.

"He'll be really annoying," Zaira said weakly. "He stays longer and that's just a bother so I just behave for him so that he leaves quickly," she said more definitely.

"No. You are not doing this to me. I can tell when people are lying to me. Please don't do that to me..." She begged, eyes glossy and looking up at Zaira.

Zaira looked away a little embarrassed. "He gets mad...It's nothing I can't handle. I've dealt with it since my mom passed away so it's really no big deal now."

"I'm staying with you while he's here, and don't even try to say no. Or you are staying with me..well, Ani."

"Neither of those are options right now. If you stay with me my father will get mad. It'll be the same if I'm not at home. I would love for you to stay with me, but we have to wait until my father leaves."

"You forget who you are talking to." She was referring to the way she could be invisible and no one would ever notice her.

"My dad's better at noticing things than I am and if I almost always notice you then he definitely will," Zaira said matter-of-factly.

"Not if I hideaway in your room. I don't require food, and I can sleep in a closet or something. It's a step up from trees."

"Jeez, you can be so stubborn sometimes. It'll be fine. You'll just have to trust me for the next few days then I'll be yours and yours alone. Okay?"

"He'll hurt you," Nera mumbled.

Zaira froze and her usually cheerful face became a little sad. "Not really..." is what she said, but it sounded like a yes.

"Fine, keep lying." Nera stood up, still unbalanced, but not wanting to torture herself with liars. "See ya."

Zaira grabbed her hand, but couldn't bring herself to say anything. "Just...please trust me for a little while. You know I hate lying, but it's not really something...I just don't..." Zaira couldn't find the words to voice what she was feeling. She would have to risk everything instead. "I love you so I just don't want to lose you," she said quietly.

"And I don't want you to get hurt!" Rez yelled, hands turning to fists at her side. "I swear, if even threatens, I'll kill him myself."

"Do you really think he could hurt someone like me," Zaira said with a genuine smile. "If it really hurt do you think I could be happy all the time?"

"Yes, anyone can put up a false sense of happiness."

"Idiot, I'm a sucky liar," Zaira said sticking her tongue out. "You should know that by know. I pretty much just wear my feelings right out on my sleeves."

"Not always, whether you realize or not." Nera hung her head, taking a step forward, falling to her knees. "Fuck..." It ruined her dramatic exit.

"Rez. When do I not do it," she asked with a puzzled look. "I always try to be truthful and if I end up lying to someone then I'm also usually lying to myself...call it denial I guess."

She didn't move, as silent and still as the wind.

"Uh, Rez," Zaira said nudging the girl lightly. Did she say something wrong? Maybe she would get slapped...or punched. "Talk to me," she said as grabbed Nerezza by the shoulders.

"S-still...I'm fine." She said in a sure tone, denying the fact that she had just hit a tree and off-set her balance.

Zaira didn't believe her completely, but decided to let it go just this once and only because she just now registered something Nerezza said earlier. "You said something about your brother earlier didn't you? What happened?"

Nera's head snapped forward, her eyes clear at the point straight ahead. "Nothing," she growled, even more determined to stand up and move at least one step further.

Zaira wrapped her arms around Nerezza's neck and pulled her close. "Please tell me what happened," she said with a smile.

Rez violently broke free, pinning Zaira to the ground beneath her, becoming someone seemingly opposite. "Don't!" She whispered through her clenched teeth centimeters away from the other girl's face.

Zaira stared up at the girl in surprise. She had been pinned down by Nerezza before, so it wasn't a shock that she could do it again. It was just...surprising that she did it so violently. "If you don't tell me what I should do then I won't understand," she said flatly. All she wanted was to help Rez...to help the girl she loved and no matter what got in her way she would do it.

"Let me protect you," she wished the words into existence. They had been on the tip of her tongue for awhile now. However, wishing and saying were two different things. So all she said was, "Don't worry about Ani. He's not answering."

"He's not answering what," Zaira asked with a quizzical look. Nerezza was acting weird and it wasn't just because of Zaira's dad. If it was then things would be a little less...wrong then they were currently. "You can tell me anything Rez."

"It doesn't matter." She just wanted to drop the subject. She knew Zaira wouldn't care once her father was here anyway. Zaira probably made up some sob story to get Nera to show emotions.

"Of course it matters," Zaira scoffed. "It got you to act different then normal so it definitely matters. I'll always be here for you no matter what you do to me. Even if you do something horrible to me or I get hit by a bus I'll still be with you as a ghost and I'll protect you from everything I can and scare away anything that I can't."

Nera held her tighter to the ground. "Words. So many untrustworthy words..." Ani promised to help her, too, with this deal, and then he goes off to be unavailable at god knows where. Who was to say that Zaira wasn't lying and would leave her just the same?

"What can I do to convince you," Zaira asked sadly. She jumped off a building to chase after her...was that even taken into account. Rez should have at least trusted her a little bit by now, right?

"Convince me of what? Lies? Deception? There is no going back, Zaira. You've already to me about your father, so what could you possibly convince me of? Hm, tell me that, Zaira. If you can be truthful." Her grip tightened around the girl's arms.

Zaira winced as the grip tightened. "What can I do to show you that I really care?"

Kiss me, the words fell into her mind. But that's not what she wanted. "I don't know..." she sighed, glancing away from the situation.

"Look at me Rez," Zaira demanded not too happily.

She refused, shaking her head, hair falling into her face so she could easily go into hiding.

"Rez! Look at me now," she demanded once again. This time her tone of voice was harsher.

"I can't!" She screamed, the echo ringing in the air.

"Fine then. I'll do as I please," Zaira said curtly. She picked her head up and placed a chaste kiss on Nerezza's cheek.

The girl fiercely blushed. She practically jumped off Zaira, flushed as a fresh ripe tomato.

Zaira blushed a bit as well. This time she wouldn't be taking advantage of her friend. This time...she would be revealing all of her feelings. "I-I told you that I loved you," she stuttered. "That's what you get for not trusting me." She looked away as her blush spread from ear to ear.

Nera stared wide-eyed at her friend. Friend? Since when did she consider Zaira a friend? For that matter, when did she ever consider anyone a friend? "L-like...family? Like Ani loves me...right?" She was praying that's what Zaira meant. If it was anything else, she wouldn't understand.

"Idiot," Zaira mumbled under her breath. "It's not family love. It's stronger than family love," she tried to explain.

"Um...so...you trying to say you love me more than Ani does?" That was quite the lie. No one cared like Ani did. Zaira wouldn't be the one to claim a winner's seat there.

"You can't compare my love to your brother's love. They are two different kinds of love. His is big brother love and mine is..." Zaira blushed hard and she couldn't finish her sentence. Somehow she felt that saying 'like a lover' might be dangerous right now.

"Uhhh..." She stumbled over thoughts and words, not exactly understanding what kind of confession this was. From seeing Zaira this way, though, she couldn't help but become even more flushed.

"You wanted to know," Zaira said quietly. "Do you at least trust me now?"

"I still..." _Don't understand_, she finished in her mind. "Trust you for what?" Nera blankly asked.

Zaira looked away, not able to look Rez in the eyes. This was all way too embarrassing. "In general...I guess. I really want you to rely on me more. You can trust me."

"Then trust me." Finally, one of the more important managed to escape from her mind into the real world.

"I do trust you...I mean...I know I ask you a lot of questions, but that's because I really, really care about you..."

If she truly trusted her, Nera would be able to sneak over while Zaira's father stayed there.

"Rez, I trust a lot of people in this world. That's just the kind of person I am. I trust you, your brother...most of the time, my best friend, my best friend's little brother, but it's just easier to list off the person I trust the least. That is my father of course. I don't trust him with anything and I mean ANYTHING," Zaira emphasized. "Like, big, bold, capitalized letters anything."

"Then let me stay." Words escaped her lips, falling off the tip of her tongue and diving into the avalanche that would be her stress of emotion.

"I told you no. Did you hear me say I don't trust my dad at all? God knows what he would do if he found you," Zaira exasperated.

"I'll kill him." Her eyes dead center and lost. There was no doubting she had enough power in that small figure to take down pretty much anyone who decided to come against her. "Cause I don't trust him either." It almost made her want to buy a high powered illegal gun from an underground syndicate. She was good at not getting caught. Covering her tracks was one of the first things she learned, after all.

"I don't want him dead," Zaira shouted. "I just don't want him out of my life. This will probably be the last time I see him. CC Corp wants me to move into an apartment because my house is too expensive. I'll be moving as soon as I find a place both CC Corp and I can agree on. They also told me that they are going to pay for **all** of my expenses. That includes food and well, all mean everything," she chirped happily. "Then I'll never have to see him again," Zaira added, obviously referring to her father.

CC Corp. That was another thing that had been kept from her. She trusted Kusari more with that secret, otherwise Nera would have been told first. "Yeah...good luck with that."

Zaira blushed. "Actually...about that. I was wondering if maybe, if it wasn't too much trouble, I mean," she murmured. God, this was embarrassing.

"If what? And if it's another lie, or another secret you've been hiding, boy..." She shook her head. The fire in her darkened eyes should have been enough to know she wasn't playing around anymore.

"It's nothing like that," Zaira mumbled blushing even more. "Wouldyouliketomoveinwithme," she asked in one breath.

She tried to replay it in her mind, slow motion to catch every word. Nerezza cocked an eyebrow. "Why do you do this? First, you say no 'cause your father will hit you if he finds out, and now you're asking me to move in with you?" Her voice stressed on the last four words. It wasn't fair to confuse her like that.

"When I move into the apartment I want to live with you. I won't be listed for my own protection, one of my conditions that CC Corp has to allow, so my dad won't even know where I live anymore," Zaira beamed happily.

"You don't need protection." In other words, Nera was too shy and doubtful, she didn't want to accept it.

"I need you," Zaira said shyly. "Please," she added with a pleading tone.

"Why?" She sounded so small, not wanting to get hurt in the end.

Zaira sighed. "You're really going to make me say it again...I love you Nerezza." Zaira pulled Rez into a tight hug lifting her chin so that she could place a chaste kiss on her lips.

Nera fiercely blushed. She still didn't quite know what Zaira was saying, so she just shyly nodded, silently agreeing to move in. "Can't guarantee anything," she said, which was, at this point, her way of saying she cared, even if she wasn't sure how or what it meant.


End file.
